UFL innovations serving as technology bridge to NFL

Two years ago, the XFL reached a partnership agreement with the NFL in hopes of serving as a "petri dish" of innovation for the game, with an eye toward rules, player development and playing surfaces.

The arrangement helped smooth the path for the NFL to adopt and modify the XFL's kickoff play, set to debut in the 2024 season, and the leagues have now turned their attention to a series of technological developments that could be a year (or less) away from hitting the NFL, too.

As the United Football League nears completion of its first season since the XFL-USFL merger, the NFL is studying its TrU Line ball-spotting technology with plans to continue testing this summer during its preseason games.

The technology has provided what UFL officials said has been reliable assessments of whether a ball has reached the line to gain. It does not replace the referee's responsibility to place the ball in the correct spot but eliminates the need for a traditional "chain gang" to determine first downs.

The NFL is also keeping an eye on the UFL's expanded system for coach-to-player communication, which allows up to eight players to have a helmet speaker to hear the offensive or defensive playcaller, as well as sideline tablet video that has replaced the still photos used by the NFL.

The UFL's technology team has conducted bimonthly meetings with its NFL counterparts this year, according to UFL senior vice president of technology Scott Harniman, and it will all be on display Sunday when the Birmingham Stallions take on the San Antonio Brahmas in the UFL's first championship game (5 p.m. ET at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis on Fox).

"Our mission at the UFL has always been to attempt to balance innovation with changes that advance the game of football while providing the highest level of transparency in sports for fans," Harniman said.

There are other innovations the NFL seems less likely to adopt, at least in the near term, including routine broadcasting of officiating conversations and wearable cameras attached to officials and players. So we'll focus on three possibilities that the NFL could conceivably adopt in the next few seasons.

TrU Line spotting

The USFL used ball-spotting technology during its 2022 and 2023 seasons, but the UFL adopted it for its inaugural campaign and rebranded it as TrU Line in conjunction with developer Bolt6.

The system uses a portable set of six 4K cameras -- arranged on either side of both 20-yard lines, as well as the 50-yard line -- that can be affixed throughout a stadium. They detect the exact location of the ball, relative to the line to gain, whenever referees request a spot via their wireless headsets.

The league set a goal of averaging about five spots per game, with a focus on instances in which a ball is within 30 inches from the line to gain on the offense's side and six inches on the defense's side. Within seconds, TrU Line's cloud-based analysis produces a graphic that is shown both on the television broadcast and in the stadium, declaring whether there has been a first down or how many inches remain to achieve one.

Dean Blandino, head of officiating for the UFL, said the technology has proved to be reliable. As a result, the UFL didn't need classic sticks and chains on its sidelines for measurement. Instead, it had sideline designees who could use camera-based "laser chains" to measure if there was a need for it.

"I think it was successful," Harniman said. "I think we definitely did a good job of making it a brand. And that was kind of a goal for me coming out of it. And then, working hand in hand with talent, I think we found that kind of silver bullet of, 'How does it integrate into the broadcast and not affect the flow of football, but shows up and is an innovation and is part of the game?' So there's much that needs to be done to get it to work better, but I think we took a really good step this year."

One issue, Blandino said, was breaking old habits.

"Our biggest challenge was just getting the officials comfortable with it," he said, "and integrating it into the game because they're so used to the chain crew and managing that operation. I think that was just the biggest hurdle, getting them comfortable when they wanted to have a measurement, not bringing the chains on.

"But yeah, it's been really reliable and I think that's technology and a process. I know the NFL's looking at [it] and yeah, I think it's good for the game."