According to USFL executive vice president of football operations Daryl Johnston, the USFL is entertaining the idea of using a “glowing football” during broadcasts. The glowing football could join other technological innovations the USFL is pushing, like the virtual first down line and sensors in every football.
“Were working on the ability of, when you’re going for a touchdown, did the ball break the plain and you can’t really find it or see it. Where that ball would actually illuminate or glow and you’d be able to see that”, Johnston stated on Fox News. “So that’s something we are hoping to have at some point during the course of the season.”
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The league has not officially issued a press release on the idea so we may not see the glowing football implemented this year but, interestingly, they are considering it. The NFL already uses ball-tracking technology by placing chips inside the ball for NextGen stats.
The USFL is owned by Fox and the idea of a glowing object to make the game easier to follow is not new to them. In 1996 Fox introduced an augmented reality system named FoxTrax to highlight the puck. It used modified pucks that contained shock sensors and infrared emitters. The emissions were picked up by sensors and computer systems to then generate on-screen graphics. The hope was that the highlighted puck made it easier to follow for new fans, however, the system received harsh criticism from many die-hard fans who saw it as a gimmick.
