It did not take long for the United Football League to unveil game-changing technology that should be used by the NFL. The new spring league, which combined the XFL with the USFL, took the first step toward the eradication of the chain gang.
Gone (soon) are the days of giant orange sticks!
Bolt6, a company at the forefront of sports technology innovation, partnered with the UFL to integrate what is called “TrU Line Technology” into games. Its purpose is to elevate the precision of ball-spotting.
Each UFL stadium installed six calibrated 4K cameras. They are used only to determine exactly where the ball should be placed on the field by matching all of the different angles together in real-time.
Saturday marked TrU Line’s first usage in the UFL.
Arlington running back Leddie Brown scampered out of bounds right at the first down marker. A live official might have granted a fresh set of downs. The technology did not.
Upon further review, Brown ran out of bounds when the ball was exactly five inches short.
The UFL announced a partnership this week to help with measurements and "elevating the precision of ball-spotting".
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 30, 2024
This is what it looks in a game. What do we think? pic.twitter.com/aNcmn4jzdf
Although TrU Line’s first ruling was a success, I found it difficult to understand exactly what was going on during the review as a viewer at home. There must be a way to translate the process on the broadcast!
As for the technology itself, this is a great step in the right direction. The process was a bit lengthy, but it will speed up over time as the model acquires more data.
Bolt6’s TrU Line Technology leverages trained machine learning models that spring into action the instant a referee places the ball on the ground. These models swiftly determine the ball’s exact position on the field, with all processing conducted in the cloud to ensure minimal on-site equipment is needed, beyond the state-of-the-art Bolt6 cameras.
— United Football League
I am a huge fan of the chain gang. Strictly for content purposes.
Two guys holding giant orange sticks is hilarious. A tangled chain is even funnier.
However, if I am being realistic, there is simply no reason for the old way of doing things to be the current way of doing things. Especially in the NFL. We have the technology and the UFL put it on display!