Microsoft’s Surface Pro Tablets To Tackle NFL Sidelines This Season

Microsoft and the NFL struck a multi-year deal to integrate the professional football league into the Xbox One and Windows 8 with apps. The next step in the partnership was revealed Sunday with Surface Pro 2 tablets and apps coming to NFL sidelines.

It’s not uncommon to watch a quarterback like the Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning come to the sideline after an offensive series and start flipping through a book of photographs showing how defenses react to offensive formations. This isn’t just the quarterback though; it’s coaches on the sideline and the booth plus other players on the team.

This decades old system of photographs on paper will still remain, but teams will have the option to use Microsoft’s Sideline Viewing System powered by specially made Surface Pro 2 tablets. All 32 NFL teams will receive 13 tablets owned and operated by the NFL to try and make communication during games more efficient.

“We’re going to make players a bit more efficient, a bit more productive,” Microsoft told IGN. “Typically you’re looking at something that would take 20-30 seconds to get those paper printouts into the hands of players, into the hands of coaches. We’ve got that down to four or five seconds. That’s a tangible amount of time that players and coaches can look at these images, find out key aspects, and make adjustments to the game before they go back on the field. I really think [it’s] going to change the competitive landscape in a good way: letting teams be a bit more competitive.”

Players and coaches will also be able to draw on the images to help communicate routes and other on the field information with others on the team. Video won’t be available, however. According to GameSpot, the NFL rule makers agreed that video would provide too much of a competitive advantage over photos.

You won’t see players using Twitter or Facebook on the sideline either. The NFL is blocking all third-party apps that could be a distraction.

These Surface Pro 2 tablets are specially constructed to handle the varying levels of heat, cold, sun, and rain experienced during the course of an NFL season. They also come in sturdier cases to survive rough handling, though there is no word on if they’ll survive being spiked like a football.

Surface Pro tablets were already part of the NFL last season. Trainers could occasionally be seen carrying the devices while evaluating a player on the field or the sideline. The 2014 season will see a more significant expansion of their use starting with the first preseason game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants.

You can be sure that viewers will see loads of Microsoft Surface branding on NFL sidelines this season as Microsoft attempts to help its Windows 8 powered device against the likes of the iPad and Android tablets.

What do you think of the NFL using Microsoft Surface Pro tablets on the sideline? Just another technological step for the game or marketing opportunity for Microsoft?

[Images via Microsoft]