Today, the National Football League (NFL) and Sony announced a partnership naming Sony as an official technology partner of the NFL, as well as the new official headphones of the NFL.

Through this partnership, Sony and the NFL will collaborate with coaches, players, teams, and leadership. This will include expanding Sony’s sports technology through Hawk-Eye Innovations to support officiating and the development of on-field and sideline technologies, including a new coach’s sideline headset that will debut in the 2025 season.

The NFL and Sony will work closely to develop this new headset, which will support coach-to-coach communication on the field. It will be powered by Verizon Business’ Managed Private Wireless Solution, which runs on Verizon’s reliable 5G network.

The NFL will use Sony’s Hawk-Eye tracking services to enhance the accuracy of game-critical items, including line-to-gain measurement. Additionally, Sony’s Beyond Sports and its real-time visualization expertise will help create a deeper connection with the next generation of NFL fans.

“Building upon a long-established relationship, the NFL looks forward to embracing prominent industry leader Sony as an official technology partner,” said Gary Brantley, chief information officer at the NFL. “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 to drive innovation and further solidify the league’s status as a premier sports organization,” continued Brantley.

The new partnership is the latest example of Sony’s further integration in NFL game coverage, which includes sideline photography, broadcast cameras and production, technology that supports officiating, enhancements for in-stadium fan experiences, and more.

“We are committed to creating the future of sports with technology and constantly driving innovation to positively impact the world of athletics for players, coaches and fans alike,” said Neal Manowitz, president and COO of Sony Electronics North America. “From best-in-class professional photography and the broadcast capture of the game to some of the world’s most advanced line-to-gain optical tracking, to upgraded in-stadium experiences and more, we remain focused on this commitment. This partnership stems from years of integration into the NFL across these many different areas, and we are excited to officially join forces and pursue our passions together with one of the largest sports organizations in the world.”

For the coming seasons, Hawk-Eye and the NFL will collaborate in developing next-gen officiating technology using Hawk-Eye’s line-to-gain optical tracking technology to review and make rulings on plays. Additionally, the technology and data captured by Hawk-Eye paired with player tracking data from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats powered by AWS and Sony’s Beyond Sports’ visualization technology will create new avenues for real-time content creation for ESPN, Disney and the NFL’s Toy Story Funday Football alternate game presentation during the 2023 season, which brought a younger and more global audience to the game and is the biggest live event to-date on Disney+. 

Sony products and technologies are used extensively in many NFL stadiums nationwide, with opportunities to expand further as teams and organizations evolve their in-game experiences for fans. Additionally, the new NFL Network studios in Inglewood, CA have recently shifted many of their operations and cameras to Sony technology. These studios are used as the primary production location for many NFL Network shows, including Good Morning Football, NFL GameDay Morning and The Insiders.

Sony Pictures Television handles U.S. distribution for GMFB: Overtime, a new extension of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football that streams on The Roku Channel Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to noon ET and will air in syndication on local TV stations beginning September 2.

Image courtesy Sony