• by Danielle Oster , August 6, 2024

Sony has solidified its relationship with the National Football League.

Last week, the NFL designated Sony as an official technology partner. While that title doesn’t seem to be exclusive to the company, the NFL also named Sony as “The Official Headphones of the NFL,” a significant distinction for a sport so reliant on audio communication between coaches and players.

The designation will see Sony partner with the NFL, coaches, players, teams, and league leadership to incorporate sports technology into the league’s activities. This partnership will include an expansion of Sony’s sports technology through Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations supporting league officials, and developing on-field and sideline technologies such as a newly introduced sideline headset for coaches that will debut with the 2025 season. The headset will facilitate coach-to-coach communication via another partnership, utilizing Verizon Business' Managed Private Wireless Solution.

"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,” NFL Chief Information Officer Gary Brantley said in a statement.

"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,” Sony Electronics North America COO Neal Manowitz added. “This partnership stems from years of integration into the NFL across these many different areas.”

The expansion of the Hawk-Eye technology integration will include Sony collaborating with the NFL to develop the next generation of its officiating technology for the coming seasons, including line-to-gain optical tracking technology used to review close plays and make critical officiating calls. Additionally, the league will employ the technology to pair data captured by Hawk-Eye with player tracking data from the NFL’s next gen statistics tracking powered by AWS and Sony’s Beyond Sports visualization program -- which will be used to generate real-time content creation.

While the official designation greatly expands its relationship with the league, Sony had previously established relationships with NFL partners. Sony has worked with the Associated Press since 2020 as its exclusive imaging products and support provider, with the AP acting as the source for NGL coverage imagery. Sony’s cameras have also long been deployed by NFL broadcast partners lie CBS Sports, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and ESPN.