Here is a development that really doesn’t affect how the game is played, but heightens fan enjoyment through the magic of technology. Sportvision, a small startup company, is credited with introducing this amazing innovation in 1997 on ESPN. To TV viewers, the use of this First-and-Ten Yellow Line appears to be part of the field. It’s so well engineered that there are no telltale signs of it being anything other than part of the field. The line instantly provides a reading on how much distance is needed for a first down and often relegates chain gangs to confirming what millions of TV watchers already know.
The NFL: 16 ways the game has changed in the Super Bowl era
Forty-seven years after the first Super Bowl was played in Los Angeles before a less-than-capacity crowd, let’s look back at some of the ways the NFL has changed.
5. Super-imposed TV first-down line
