Well, at least now we have an estimate of how much “too much” might be for NFL owners.
And it could be less than $1 million per team.
After being shamed for crying poor in the face of Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s proposal to add fixed cameras at boundary lines to help with replay reviews, the league eventually came back and said it would research the topic further.
ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert did the same, and after talking to industry experts, estimated the cost of outfitting 31 stadiums at somewhere around $20 million, or even up to $25 million.
At the higher number, that comes out to a little less than $782,000 per team.
For something which could change the game.
Assuming the league didn’t sell the marketing rights to the cameras the way they did with their sideline tablets (which there’s a zero percent chance they won’t do).
Seifert’s article pointed out some of the potential complications, including the positioning of the cameras to get usable angles, and how it might impact sight lines for fans.
But for a league that generated $12 billion in revenue last year, the estimated cost seems a pittance.
Even if the cost was double, it would still be.