The NFL has decided that the chain gang no longer measures up.
During the 2025 season the NFL will determine whether teams have reached a first down by using Sony’s Hawk-Eye system of six, 8K cameras placed around each stadium that will optically track the position of the ball. In announcing the change Tuesday, the NFL said in a press release that the technology had been tested “extensively” last season.
The chain gang, the nickname of the team of officials that walk onto the field in critical moments to measure whether the ball has gone 10 yards, will “remain on the field in a second capacity,” the league said. But they will remain background players as the cameras judge the difference between where the ball is spotted and the line to gain.
“As on-field officials are notified of the measurement outcome, virtual recreations of measurements are produced in real time for the in-stadium and broadcast audience,” the league said.
According to the NFL, the Hawk-Eye system will be operated from its centralized, New York-based officiating center, where it will be integrated with the NFL’s existing system for evaluating replays. Measuring using the Hawk-Eye system takes around 30 seconds, which the league claims saves up to 40 seconds from using the traditional method.
In an increasingly tech-oriented sport, the use of the chain gang had become an anachronism, and its efficacy a never-ending source of debate. The latest came in Janu, when Josh Allen, the Buffalo quarterback and league Most Valuable Player, was ruled short of a first down during the AFC championships against Kansas City, although replays suggested he had reached a first down. The camera-assisted measurement system would not have necessarily led to a first down in that case, however, because the referees’ spot of the ball remains paramount — and the spot remains at times an imperfect judgment call made by an official.
