Virtual measurement to replace 1st-down chains for 2025 season

The NFL plans to replace the first-down chains with the Hawk-Eye virtual measurement system for the 2025 regular season, the league announced Wednesday, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.

The chain crew will stay on the sidelines as backup. The virtual measurement drops decision-making times 55% from an average of 75 seconds to 30 seconds, according to Garafolo, citing an NFL Football Operations presentation.

The Hawk-Eye system is already used by professional sports leagues including the Premier League, MLB, and NBA, and by tennis majors including Wimbledon. Numerous high-speed cameras are placed around the playing area and footage is analyzed frame-by-frame to make close decisions. Those cameras will track players, officials, and the ball.

The league approved the use of the technology last preseason, according to ESPN's Kyle Bonagura and Kris Rhim, but didn't implement it for the regular season. The NFL continued its testing at the Super Bowl in February and has been working with Hawk-Eye technology since 2021, according to CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones.

The NFL is also considering expanding the number of fouls that qualify for replay assist after a flag is thrown, Garofolo added. Possible additions include roughing the passer calls below the knee, unnecessary roughness calls involving a defenseless player, facemask penalties, and horse-collar tackles.

The competition committee is also mulling over changing regular-season overtime rules to be the same as the playoffs, the Associated Press reports. In postseason overtime, both teams get a chance to have possession regardless of whether the offense scores a touchdown on the opening drive. The regular-season rules currently state that a team can win if it scores a touchdown on the first possession.