American football’s NFL has unveiled a significant commercial deal with Japanese technology giant Sony.
Through the tie-up, Sony becomes an official NFL technology partner, while also taking rights as the league’s headphone provider.
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The partnership entails Sony and the NFL working alongside each other on “innovations to support officiating and the development of on-field and sideline technologies,” including a new headset for coaches on the sidelines to debut in 2025.
The NFL has said there will be future collaboration with Sony on next-generation officiating technology in the coming seasons.
The new headset will support coach-to-coach communication and will be powered by Verizon, the US telecoms giant with which many NFL teams have a significant relationship.
In addition, the Sony Hawk-Eye tracking services will be used “to further enhance the accuracy of game-critical items.” Sony launched Hawk-Eye technology in early 2011.
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By GlobalDataThe partnership will also feature a role for Beyond Sports, a data analysis and visualization firm owned by Sony that is based on artificial intelligence. The NFL has said this brand can help “engage the next generation of NFL fans."
These aspects build on the existing relationship between Sony and the American football league – for example, Sony cameras have been used by the NFL's broadcast partners for decades, while Sony technologies are also used in numerous NFL venues across the US.
Gary Brantley, the NFL’s chief information officer, said: “Advancing technology on and off the field is a top priority for the NFL, and this partnership will fortify Sony's role in the NFL's ever-growing technology ecosystem, elevating various dimensions of our sport and bringing fans closer to game-day action.
“From broadening Sony's Hawk-Eye technology within the game to utilizing Sony's suite of advanced imaging products, to the deployment of new coaches' headsets in 2025, the NFL will harness Sony's expertise.”
The NFL, in terms of its commercial partner relationships, unveiled a multi-year extension with Wilson Sporting Goods, the US equipment supplier, in late June. The renewal maintains Wilson as the league’s official football provider.
Other NFL sponsors include brands such as FedEx, Microsoft, On Location, Virgin Atlantic, and Visa.
Sony, meanwhile, announced a multi-faceted deal with the organizers of the inaugural Esports World Cup – taking place in Saudi Arabia now – earlier this year.
