- Joined
- Feb 9, 2014
- Messages
- 20,922
- Name
- Peter
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #42
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.c...l-to-use-full-time-officials-enhanced-replay/
Sports betting may force NFL to use full-time officials, enhanced replay
Posted by Mike Florio on May 15, 2018
Getty Images
The NFL knows that it will never get every call right. With sports betting now available for any state that wants to adopt it, the NFL soon will have to try harder.
Both reality and perception will be important in this regard, with a compelling need to eradicate mistakes by officials and an even more compelling need to create the impression that the NFL is doing everything possible to eradicate mistakes by officials. For starters, the NFL will need full-time officials, across the board.
The process toward employing officials on a full-time basis already has begun. Eventually, all will need to be full-time employees, given the reality that for any mistake made by a part-time official, the argument will be, “A full-time official wouldn’t have made that mistake.”
And while there’s a practical limit to the number of calls that will be gotten right, it must seem to the neutral observer that the league is trying. Having a full complement of full-time officials cries out, “We’re trying as hard as we can.”
That may not be enough. To the extent that mistakes can be rectified via expanded replay review, the league will have to be willing to consider doing it. And the league also should seriously consider something I’ve suggested for several years now — the use of a video official who is part of the crew, who monitors the action away from the field via the various camera angles, and who communicates directly to the referee when the video reveals that a mistake is about to be made by the on-field crew, ensuring that the pre-replay call is as accurate as possible.
The league may argue that these enhancements justify the so-called “integrity fee” that all sports leagues hope to shake from the states that adopt sports wagering. The response should be that this isn’t about “integrity,” it’s about competence.
The NFL has tolerated something less than absolute competence and performance by employing part-time officials, many of whom otherwise have full-time jobs. The NFL has done that because, quite frankly, it’s far cheaper this way. The cheaper route won’t be an option when millions of dollars will be legally changing hands every week based on the outcome of games.
In the past, a bad beat caused by officials would from time to time create a ruckus, like when former NFL referee Scott Green made a mistake at the end of a Chargers-Steelers game in 2008. With legalized gambling, that ruckus quickly could become a full-blown inquisition. And if enough of those happen, Congress could make the NFL’s worst nightmare come to fruition by creating a federal agency that oversees all American professional sports.
So, no, this isn’t about integrity. This is about the NFL finally having a clear, pressing reason to do what it should have been doing all along: Striving to get every call right in every game, with no tolerance for the concept of human error.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/05/15/sports-betting-could-spark-real-time-tv-technology/
Sports betting could spark real-time TV technology
Posted by Mike Florio on May 15, 2018
Legalized betting combined with smart phones could result in billions in new gambling revenue — with one significant caveat.
In-game microwagering likely will proliferate as states adopt sports betting, with fans able while sitting at the stadium to place wagers on the outcome of the next play (in football), the outcome of the next pitch (in baseball), or various other what-happens-next propositions in other sports.
The money generated by those games will explode if it’s not simply part of the in-stadium experience, but something that fans can experience while watching the action from home.
But that’s where it gets tricky. Currently, there’s a lag between the place where the event is occurring and the place where the event is being televised. Allowing for some degree of latency would invite shenanigans if, for example, a guy in Topeka has a guy in AT&T Stadium who can text instantaneously the outcome of the next play, allowing guy in Topeka to beat the system with inside information.
The demand for real-time play-by-play wagering at home could (and should) drive the technological advances necessary to permit the same kind of real-time picture-and-sound transmission that currently occurs between NFL game sites and 345 Park Avenue during replay review, with no delay of any kind. What the person sees at home will be happening at the exact same time in the building, no matter how far away.
That kind of technology (which may not be cheap for the ultimate consumer, but if the ultimate consumer wants to bet during games it will simply be a cost of doing business) would essentially amount to a sports betting Big Bang, allowing the universe of potential bets and potential bettors to continuously expand.
The networks have a clear interest in developing and implementing such technologies ASAP, given that new broadcast contracts will become effective in 2022 (for Monday Night Football) and 2023 (for all other packages).
Having the ability to deliver images with immediacy will lay the foundation for the placement of bets between whistle and snap, resulting in more people watching, more people betting, and everyone making more money.
This also will hold the audience in place, giving fans fewer reasons to stray during lulls in the action, since they’ll be scanning the available options for the next bet they’ll be placing, before the next play begins.
However sports betting shakes out, every sports league and network that televises sports should be immediately figuring out how to deliver real-time action, since it will be the best (and perhaps only) way to enjoy real-time action from home.
Sports betting may force NFL to use full-time officials, enhanced replay
Posted by Mike Florio on May 15, 2018
Getty Images
The NFL knows that it will never get every call right. With sports betting now available for any state that wants to adopt it, the NFL soon will have to try harder.
Both reality and perception will be important in this regard, with a compelling need to eradicate mistakes by officials and an even more compelling need to create the impression that the NFL is doing everything possible to eradicate mistakes by officials. For starters, the NFL will need full-time officials, across the board.
The process toward employing officials on a full-time basis already has begun. Eventually, all will need to be full-time employees, given the reality that for any mistake made by a part-time official, the argument will be, “A full-time official wouldn’t have made that mistake.”
And while there’s a practical limit to the number of calls that will be gotten right, it must seem to the neutral observer that the league is trying. Having a full complement of full-time officials cries out, “We’re trying as hard as we can.”
That may not be enough. To the extent that mistakes can be rectified via expanded replay review, the league will have to be willing to consider doing it. And the league also should seriously consider something I’ve suggested for several years now — the use of a video official who is part of the crew, who monitors the action away from the field via the various camera angles, and who communicates directly to the referee when the video reveals that a mistake is about to be made by the on-field crew, ensuring that the pre-replay call is as accurate as possible.
The league may argue that these enhancements justify the so-called “integrity fee” that all sports leagues hope to shake from the states that adopt sports wagering. The response should be that this isn’t about “integrity,” it’s about competence.
The NFL has tolerated something less than absolute competence and performance by employing part-time officials, many of whom otherwise have full-time jobs. The NFL has done that because, quite frankly, it’s far cheaper this way. The cheaper route won’t be an option when millions of dollars will be legally changing hands every week based on the outcome of games.
In the past, a bad beat caused by officials would from time to time create a ruckus, like when former NFL referee Scott Green made a mistake at the end of a Chargers-Steelers game in 2008. With legalized gambling, that ruckus quickly could become a full-blown inquisition. And if enough of those happen, Congress could make the NFL’s worst nightmare come to fruition by creating a federal agency that oversees all American professional sports.
So, no, this isn’t about integrity. This is about the NFL finally having a clear, pressing reason to do what it should have been doing all along: Striving to get every call right in every game, with no tolerance for the concept of human error.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/05/15/sports-betting-could-spark-real-time-tv-technology/
Sports betting could spark real-time TV technology
Posted by Mike Florio on May 15, 2018
Legalized betting combined with smart phones could result in billions in new gambling revenue — with one significant caveat.
In-game microwagering likely will proliferate as states adopt sports betting, with fans able while sitting at the stadium to place wagers on the outcome of the next play (in football), the outcome of the next pitch (in baseball), or various other what-happens-next propositions in other sports.
The money generated by those games will explode if it’s not simply part of the in-stadium experience, but something that fans can experience while watching the action from home.
But that’s where it gets tricky. Currently, there’s a lag between the place where the event is occurring and the place where the event is being televised. Allowing for some degree of latency would invite shenanigans if, for example, a guy in Topeka has a guy in AT&T Stadium who can text instantaneously the outcome of the next play, allowing guy in Topeka to beat the system with inside information.
The demand for real-time play-by-play wagering at home could (and should) drive the technological advances necessary to permit the same kind of real-time picture-and-sound transmission that currently occurs between NFL game sites and 345 Park Avenue during replay review, with no delay of any kind. What the person sees at home will be happening at the exact same time in the building, no matter how far away.
That kind of technology (which may not be cheap for the ultimate consumer, but if the ultimate consumer wants to bet during games it will simply be a cost of doing business) would essentially amount to a sports betting Big Bang, allowing the universe of potential bets and potential bettors to continuously expand.
The networks have a clear interest in developing and implementing such technologies ASAP, given that new broadcast contracts will become effective in 2022 (for Monday Night Football) and 2023 (for all other packages).
Having the ability to deliver images with immediacy will lay the foundation for the placement of bets between whistle and snap, resulting in more people watching, more people betting, and everyone making more money.
This also will hold the audience in place, giving fans fewer reasons to stray during lulls in the action, since they’ll be scanning the available options for the next bet they’ll be placing, before the next play begins.
However sports betting shakes out, every sports league and network that televises sports should be immediately figuring out how to deliver real-time action, since it will be the best (and perhaps only) way to enjoy real-time action from home.
