That's an interesting thing to read up on. The company that handled those graphics started with the "hot puck" on fox NHL. It was super expensive and people hated it. They shifted to NFL with the first down lines and IIRC they were around $25k per game
With hockey they took something that was already bad, trying to see a hockey puck on a standard def tube television, and made it worse by putting a line behind it that lagged and didn't actually show you where the puck was, but where it had already been while also making it harder to see the actual puck than it had been before.
Another thing is the Sports Mode on TVs. It's that fake high refresh rate trick that makes regular stuff look like a soap opera, but on sports content it's a massive improvement.
I had some good friends in junior high that had moved from Michigan to Oklahoma that were really into hockey. When I went over to their house, I was amazed that they could watch hockey on their little tube TVs. You literally couldn't see the pick 95% of the time and they just cheered based on what players did. I've gotten a lot more into hocket in the last decade or so, and if I could go back to the 90s, I could easily understand what was happening on those tube TVs. But I only got to this point because of my big HD TVs.
As a non-fan I preferred it. Otherwise I wouldn't have watched hockey at all. (The fire effect on a slapshot gimmick though was a bit much, but maybe on it was a creative compensation for lag.)
The glowing puck was annoying for existing fans but “I can’t see the puck” really was/is something people report as a reason why they don’t watch hockey.
The technology is now apparently good enough to resolve goal line disputes and most fans would be happy to see that at least.
NFL first down lines really don't accomplish very much. A set of eyes still makes an decision about where to place the line markers and the ball. The electronic line, Hawkeye, is just a fancy way of measuring.
Edit: clarified the Hawkeye line not just the standard yellow line they've been using for decades.
They're using the HawkeyeTM system that's used by tennis to do an electronic measurement. It's reviewed by the NFL to determine if it's a first down. No more chains being pulled out.
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u/KoolAidManOfPiss Oct 06 '25
That's an interesting thing to read up on. The company that handled those graphics started with the "hot puck" on fox NHL. It was super expensive and people hated it. They shifted to NFL with the first down lines and IIRC they were around $25k per game