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Sony, NFL launch new technology partnership
The National Football League and Sony announced today a partnership naming Sony as an official technology partner of the NFL, as well as the new official headphones of the NFL.
Through this partnership, Sony and the NFL will be working collaboratively with coaches, players, teams and leadership across the organization to transform the future of football. This includes an expansion of Sony’s sports technology through Hawk-Eye Innovations to support officiating and the development of on-field and sideline technologies, including a new coach’s sideline headset that will debut in the 2025 season.
The NFL and Sony will work closely to develop this new headset supporting coach-to-coach communication on the field. These will be powered by Verizon Business’ Managed Private Wireless Solution running on Verizon’s reliable 5G network.
Sony’s Hawk-Eye tracking services will be utilized to further enhance the accuracy of game-critical items like line-to-gain measurement. Additionally, Sony’s Beyond Sports and its expertise in real-time visualization provides an opportunity to help engage the next generation of NFL fans.
“Building upon a long-established relationship, the NFL looks forward to embracing prominent industry leader, Sony, as an official technology partner,” said Gary Brantley, chief information officer at the NFL. “Advancing technology on and off the field is a top priority for the NFL, and this partnership will fortify Sony’s role in the NFL’s ever-growing technology ecosystem, elevating various dimensions of our sport and bringing fans closer to game-day action. From broadening Sony’s Hawk-Eye technology within the game to utilizing Sony’s suite of advanced imaging products, to the deployment of new coaches’ headsets in 2025, the NFL will harness Sony’s expertise to drive innovation and further solidify the league’s status as a premier sports organization.”
The new partnership is the latest example of Sony’s deep integration throughout NFL games, ranging from sideline photography to broadcast cameras and production, to technology that supports officiating, enhancements for in-stadium fan experiences and more.
“We are committed to creating the future of sports with technology, and constantly driving innovation to positively impact the world of athletics for players, coaches and fans alike,” said Neal Manowitz, president and COO of Sony Electronics North America. “From best-in-class professional photography and the broadcast capture of the game to some of the world’s most advanced line-to-gain optical tracking, to upgraded in-stadium experiences and more, we remain focused on this commitment. This partnership stems from years of integration into the NFL across these many different areas, and we are excited to officially join forces and pursue our passions together with one of the largest sports organizations in the world.”
Sony’s extensive technology solutions capture some of the most memorable moments of the NFL, bringing fans the excitement and unpredictability of the game with world-class precision. Within the game itself, Hawk-Eye’s technology has supported the NFL Officiating Department to review and make critical rulings on plays. For the coming seasons, Hawk-Eye and the NFL will collaborate in the development of a next-generation officiating technology leveraging Hawk-Eye’s state-of-art line-to-gain optical tracking technology to review and make critical ruling on plays, helping to achieve the highest level of integrity for the game. Additionally, the technology and data captured by Hawk-Eye paired with player tracking data from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats powered by AWS and Sony’s Beyond Sports’ visualization technology will create new avenues for real-time content creation like ESPN, Disney and the NFL’s Emmy-award winning “Toy Story Funday Football” alternate game presentation during the 2023 season, which brought a younger and more global audience to the game and is the biggest live event to date on Disney+.
Since 2020, Sony has been the exclusive imaging products and support provider for The Associated Press, a trusted global news organization and the definitive source for NFL imagery. Sony’s imaging ecosystem has been AP’s exclusive camera choice for all NFL coverage, producing many incredible images of the league’s most defining moments over the course of the last four years.
Sony cameras have also been used by NFL broadcast partners including CBS Sports, ESPN, FOX Sports and NBC Sports for decades, including coverage of the league’s biggest games and the Super Bowl.
Sony products and technologies are also used extensively in many NFL stadiums across the country, with opportunities to expand further as teams and organizations continue to evolve their in-game experiences for fans. Additionally, the new NFL Network studios in Inglewood, California have recently shifted many of their key operations and cameras over to Sony technology. These studios are used as the primary production location for many NFL Network shows including “Good Morning Football,” as well as “NFL GameDay Morning” and “The Insiders.” Sony Pictures Television handles U.S. distribution for “GMFB: Overtime,” a new extension of NFL Network’s Emmy Award-winning “Good Morning Football,” currently streaming on The Roku Channel Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-noon ET and airing in syndication on local TV stations beginning Sept. 2.
With this new partnership, the NFL and Sony will continue to work together to create new opportunities within football through the power of technology and remain committed to evolving the game to maximize engagement and enjoyment for fans, coaches and players alike.
