The EvolvingTechnology Of The

Super Bowl

D o n B a s i l e

Published on

At the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl this year,we saw a host of dazzling new technology at play

behind the scenes, working to seamlessly bring thegame to millions of viewers.

Here’s a look at some of the ways Super Bowltechnology has evolved in the last fifty years.

For this year’s 50th anniversary, CBS Sportshad a suite of 70 cameras filming the Super

Bowl, which is a big jump from the 40 camerasthat covered last year’s game.

Camera Tech Has Come a Long Way

The showstopper from the new cameras is sureto be the Eye Vision 360, a replay camera thatcan freeze any moment of play and circle 360

degrees around it, and then continue the play.

Instant replay has become such a pivotalpart of how football is both watched and

played, so it’s easy to forget that it wasn’tuntil 1986 that the NFL first implemented a

limited instant replay system.

New to this year’s Super Bowl were pyloncameras: eight high resolution cameras with

high definition audio that will be affixed tothe pylons on the edge of the endzone.

These cameras can capture some up closeand personal touchdown footage, as well as

provide another perspective on calls tooclose to make with the human eye.

This year’s game was held at the mosttechnologically advanced stadium to date.

The Evolving Face of Football

Levi’s Stadium is fully equipped with 400miles of fiber and copper cable.

There are 1,200 Wi-Fi access pointsthroughout the Silicon Valley stadium.

So is this the nature of progress, or doesthis tech frenzy somehow detract from

the purity of the game?

We might watch for the ads, or for theinstant replays, but really we still watch first

and foremost for the love of the game.

The rest is just enhancements.

w w w . d o n b a s i l e . c o m

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