CFL Moves To More Transparency in Officiating
The Canadian Football League recently announced that they will be bringing more transparency to officiating for the 2018 season. In an exciting and innovative move in the professional sports world, the CFL has initiated two new platforms.
The CFL Operations and Officiating team members have launched both a Twitter account @CFLFootballOps and a website www.cfl.ca/football-operations. By visiting these sites, fans can access real-time explanations of on-field calls, as well as instructional videos on officiating.
CFL Fan Access
In the age of super slow motion, multiple camera angles, and the ability for the fan sitting at home to rewind and pause live television- even the most casual fan has a strong opinion on officiating. None more evident than when the call goes against your favourite team.
Fans are provided with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the rules regardless of prior knowledge or experience.
So this weekend I decided to follow along with @CFLFootball Ops on Twitter. As I was watching each CFL game, I was looking to understand how the site will look, along with how interactive it would be in real time.
CFL Football Ops on Twitter
The first thing I noticed was how quickly and clearly the explanations came through over the Twitter feed. Explanations of penalized plays, combined with which play the foul occurred and the type of foul were well laid out.
The only improvement on the feed that I would recommend is that I would like to see the exact time and quarter of the game the penalty occurred on rather than what number the play was. Sometimes it is impossible to watch the live game, so we set our PVR’s to record it. I think making this small change would make it easier to search for the call on Twitter. Otherwise, this platform is an excellent source of information. It is a great way to follow the game online and also a great way to teach the novice fan about the rules of the CFL game.
CFL Operations Website
At the time of this article, the CFL Operations website had not been updated to reflect any videos of calls made in Week One. However, if you have not had an opportunity to visit the site as of yet, there are plenty of reasons to make your way there.
One of the great features of this site is the ability to play along with “You Make The Call” in order to test your knowledge of the rules. It is here that real-life examples of potentially controversial calls that were made in-game can be found. This gives the fan the opportunity to study the rule and decide whether a foul occurred or not.
Again, another example of how the CFL works to make their game more appealing and interactive for their fans.
Innovative and Interactive
Clarity to the rules and why some particular calls are evident while using these sites. Combine this with the knowledge of how difficult it is for the officials to make the right call on the field as it is happening- this could even give the fan a bit more empathy for the hard-working referee. Well, that might be a bit of a reach.
So if you haven’t yet, give the @CFLFootballOps account a follow and check out the http://www.cfl.ca/football-operations website. It’s a fun and interactive way to learn more about the rules of the Canadian game as the CFL moves towards more transparency for their fans.
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