Will Deflate-Gate Lead to Micro-Chipped Footballs?
Last summer I wrote about the some of the cool technology that the NFL was going to use during the 2014/15 season. There were sensors in the player's shoulder pads tracking all their on field movements. It measured player acceleration rates, top speed, length of runs, and even the distance between a ball carrier and a defender. Next year they'll add sensors for breathing, temperature and heart rate. More stats than ever and could change the game for-ever. The yardsticks had chips along with the refs and all that data was picked up by 20 RFID receivers placed throughout various stadiums. Those, in turn, were wired to a hub and server which processed the data. 25 times a second, data was transmitted to the receivers and that then went to the NFL 'cloud' and available in seconds. The only thing without a sensor was the football. Will that change now due to Deflate-Gate? No doubt if you are a NFL fan (or maybe not since it has dominated the news) you have heard of Deflate-gate. Apparently during the AFC Championship game, the New England Patriots' footballs were under inflated during the first half. With a pound of pressure missing, those footballs were slightly easier to grip and, in theory, supposedly gave New England an advantage. If not an advantage, just the simple fact that they were not inflated to the proper pressure per the rules. Personally, I really don't care as I'm a Miami Dolphins fan and anyone else in the AFC East (Jets, Bills, Patriots) can kiss my KISS tattoo. Deflate-gate has gotten so blown up that even science folks like Bill Nye the Science Guy and Neil deGrasse Tyson has gotten into the mix and of course, there is a SNL skit about it. But it got me thinking. If they had sensors or chips in/on the footballs, none of this would have occurred. The sensors would have alerted the officials that certain footballs were not at regulation air pressure - just like your car tires do with that dashboard indicator. If, somehow, the sensors didn't go off, they could have played back the football's GPS and movements leading up to the kickoff and this whole case would have been solved by the end of halftime. Imagine the replay booth, instead of showing the first half highlights, would be showing a layout of the stadium along with 24 little dots making their move from the locker room to the officials to the field and everything in between. I would bet that most of those All-Access passes people hang around their necks have some sort of chip that provides authenticity, you could add 'location' and then see all the people dots mingling with the football dots....and voila, who was near the equipment when this happened. As part of their internal investigation, the Patriots apparently re-created their entire pre-game routine to absolve themselves from any wrongdoing. Maybe next year they'll just pull up the 'Where's my Football' app during the post game press conference - 'See! My dot is here and the football dot is over there...I did nothing.' Go Hawks! ps Related The Internet of Sports Play Ball! Deflate-gate Is The Dumbest Sports Controversy Ever Bill Nye the Science Guy: Bill Belichick's Deflate-gate explanation made no sense Neil deGrasse Tyson: Science from Belichick, Patriots doesn't add up Video shows employee taking 24 balls into bathroom ‘SNL’ settles Deflate-Gate once and for all Technorati Tags: deflate gate,nfl,patriots,superbowl,sports,sensors,things,iot,football,f5,silva Connect with Peter: Connect with F5:Are You Ready For Some...Technology!!
Every year around this time football fans are drafting their fantasy leagues, wearing their favorite team's jerseys, stocking tailgate items and experiencing the new technologies that have become part of the game. From Second Screen apps to Catapult, technology is not only changing the game but also how fans experience the contest. As more fans engage with mobile devices, the TV broadcast is being regulated as the Second Screen. Usually the mobile device is used to access information that compliments the program but with NFL fans, particularly those who play fantasy leagues, it is the reverse. They are locked in to their mobile app, following multiple games, tracking stats, clicking on-demand videos and even watching teams not associated with their local market. The NFL sees a huge opportunity to reach and engage fans even more. Australia-based Catapult is being used by many NFL teams to track athlete performance among other metrics. A 3.5-ounce monitor situated between the player's shoulder blades monitors player movements within 15 centimeters and gives coaches acceleration, distance covered, speed, explosion times, exertion, hitting force and every other imaginable piece of data on a player's specific movements. It is changing the manner in which teams practice, recover from injuries and even plan for games. The San Francisco 49ers’ new Levi’s Stadium is touted as the most technologically advanced stadium in the league. With their stadium app, fans can check bathroom, food and beer lines along with streaming replays (with your choice of camera angle) and streaming NFL Redzone. There is plenty of WiFi capacity, which is actually uncommon at NFL stadiums. There is only a handful of teams with WiFi service in their football stadiums but Roger Goodell (NFL commissioner) wants to make wireless internet a standard in NFL stadiums in the coming years. There are many other advances like safer helmets with a chip that monitors the force of a hit, 2100-inch HDTVs, retractable grass and sustainable stadiums all making an impact. The best place to watch football is in the comfort of your own living room and teams are looking at ways of creating a living room atmosphere for 80,000 fans. And as you're waiting for tonight's kickoff, check out what this dad did for his kids. ps Related: NFL Tries to Capitalize on Rabid Fans Who See TV as the 'Second Screen' To the NFL, second-screen content isn't a team sport Second-screen audiences continue to grow Sports And Technology: How Catapult is revolutionizing the NFL The NFL's Technology Cornucopia The 49ers’ New Levi’s Stadium Is Going To Be The Most Technologically Advanced Building In Sports 5 Coolest New Technologies About to Tackle the NFL Top 5 Technologies in NFL Stadiums NFL lagging on stadium Wi-Fi Florida fan impressively turns his backyard into a football field CloudFucius Is: Ready for Some Football Technorati Tags: nfl,technology,sports,football,mobile,apps,stadiums,silva,catapult,f5,infrastructure,application delivery Connect with Peter: Connect with F5:
