Fox Sports uses electronically drawn lines on broadcast to make up for poor visibility

[bcla]

I was watching the 49ers at Bears game at home - or at least the second half. It was being played at Soldier Field in less than ideal conditions - especially with rain making for some pretty bad puddles. I was listening to some sports talk radio this week, and many of the Chicago voices were saying that Soldier Field is unique among NFL stadiums in that it's legally operated by the city's parks division, and they (and not the team) control the grass that goes there. And for a while it was difficult to see where the normal painted lines were, but eventually they added this monstrosity.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/bears-49ers-soldier-field-rain-digital-field-markings-fox

This is what it looked like after the rain had partially washed off the paint.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1569053187541270529

 

[kdonnel]

Wow. Those real lines look pathetic. Are the Bears relegated to a junior team facility wise?

The city should be ashamed.

 

[Kennywood]

That ranks down there with when the NHL experiment with the FoxTrax glowing hockey pucks. When they were struck with the stick, they left streaks of light on the TV screens:

 

[bcla]

That ranks down there with when the NHL experiment with the FoxTrax glowing hockey pucks. When they were struck with the stick, they left streaks of light on the TV screens:
View attachment 701854

I was thinking of that. I remember in order to do that, they actually had electronics in the puck and the sensor was attached to the cameras to be able to track the puck and the speed of the puck, where the tail got longer if it was moving faster. Apparently they just had infrared LEDs and little holes where the infrared light came out. But then the pucks are supposed to be frozen before being placed in service, and that can't be good for the batteries.

 

[bcla]

Wow. Those real lines look pathetic. Are the Bears relegated to a junior team facility wise?

The city should be ashamed.

I remember when I was in high school, the lines drawn on all our sports fields were powdered chalk. That could get interesting when it rained. But most pro teams paint their fields with something that actually adheres to the grass or artificial surface. It's not watercolors. I've even seen it before baseball games where there was the grounds crew touching up the batter's box before the game started but after batting practice.

 

[kdonnel]

Apparently this was the sideline.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1569003168574357505

Pathetic.

The Bears are not playing in a professional grade stadium with a professional grade field.

My local high school has better field conditions.

 

[Dan Murphy]

https://www.chicagobears.com/arlington-park/

 

[bcla]

Apparently this was the sideline.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1569003168574357505

Pathetic.

The Bears are not playing in a professional grade stadium with a professional grade field.

My local high school has better field conditions.

That was before the rain picked up. They actually couldn't paint straight lines on that side of the field.

But they did celebrate with a Rick Dempsey.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1569054566062387200

For anyone too young to remember: