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More details on why there was no camera on the goal line at the Dixie Chicks-Bucs game – JoeBucsFan.com


More details on why there was no camera on the goal line at the Dixie Chicks-Bucs game – JoeBucsFan.com

More details on why there was no camera on the goal line at the Dixie Chicks-Bucs game – JoeBucsFan.com

So it seems this story has legs.

We all know by now that the Bucs were down six points on Sunday when Antoine Winfield's release of the ball off Kyle Pitts' gloves at the goal was ruled a touchdown.

The short answer was there was no goal line camera and the camera angles used for the replay were deemed inconclusive and the touchdown stood.

The open question is why FOX, which broadcast the game, didn't have a goal line camera.

Joe wrote about this yesterday after Joe spoke with a Bucs prospect whose job duties include working directly with the NFL's broadcast partners. The NFL does not dictate the location of the cameras a network uses for a particular television broadcast.

It seems some Bucs fans didn't believe this story. Well, the daycare director of Awful announcement, Ben Koo published a big story on this topic on Thursday.

It appears that in recent broadcast contracts, the NFL has sought and received an agreement that would see additional cameras added to each broadcast. Placement is not mandatory, or as Joe was told yesterday, there is no “template”.

Terrible announcement I also found that games with a 1pm kickoff rarely have goal line cameras, whereas nationally televised games almost always have goal line cameras.

So no, this is not a direct NFL problem. It's a network problem.

As you can imagine, money is the reason networks don't have more cameras at every game.

Terrible announcement noted that BSPN broadcasts between 7 and 10 college football games each Saturday using pylon cameras. Why/how can BSPN do this and not FOX or CBS for the NFL? It's simple: BSPN/Disney has found a sponsor to finance the additional cameras. The NFL rights holders have not done this (yet).

FOX rules analyst and former NFL head of the Zebras Dean Blandino, Jerry Jones' drinking buddy, said on a recent podcast that the NFL is “evaluating” whether broadcast rights holders must cover all angles of cameras at all games. (Joe once witnessed these two, along with Jay Glazer, rolling off the Cowboys bus one night at the Indianapolis combine to go bar hopping – Joe even tried to barge onto the bus, but Cowboys security stopped Joe .)

Blandino said the issue of no pylon cameras at all games has long been a thorn in the side of coaches and officials, particularly Bill Belichick.

So no, the missing cameras on Sunday were not (entirely) the NFL's responsibility. Currently the responsibility lies with FOX. That doesn't mean the NFL is innocent.

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