Fans can experience a rush of technical enhancements adding to their enjoyment of college football games on ESPN platforms this season, including RefCam from Vicareo Systems.
The device is a camera embedded in the baseball-style cap of a field official. This year the RefCam will be worn by side judges for selected games, including four Week 1 matchups on ESPN platforms: Northwestern at Purdue (tonight, 8 ET, ESPN); Washington versus Auburn (Saturday, 3:30 ET, ABC); LSU versus Miami (Sunday, Sept. 2, 7:30 ET, ABC), and Virginia Tech at Florida State (Monday, Sept. 3, 8 ET, ESPN).
Ed Placey, ESPN senior coordinating producer, college football, told Sports Video Group the theory behind using RefCam.
“Our push for NCAA approval [this offseason],” Placey said, “was to be able to use it on other positions besides on the umpire [working behind the defensive line]. Our intention was to move past a ‘cool shot’ to those that have the chance to be meaningful to the officiating of the game. Like with PylonCam, we expect the primary benefit will be to the replay review process — in this case, for plays along the sidelines and looking down the line of scrimmage.”
In the video above, watch football from the RefCam perspective during a test run in the 2017 Celebration Bowl in Atlanta last December. For more on ESPN’s Week 1 college football coverage, visit ESPN MediaZone.