The Yellow First Down Line First Aired In 1998. It Came From A Hockey Puck Fans Disliked
ESPN aired the first computer-drawn first down line on September 27, 1998. The idea grew out of a glowing hockey puck.
The yellow first down line first aired on September 27, 1998, during ESPN's Sunday night telecast of the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. According to ESPN, the company Sportvision developed it with the network, and ESPN executive Jed Drake suggested the yellow.
The hockey puck
The system grew out of FoxTrax, which put a blue glow around the puck on Fox hockey broadcasts starting in 1996. Mental Floss reports that hockey fans disliked it, but the idea of drawing on a live picture carried over to football.
Why players seem to run over it
The line sits on top of the picture, not on the field. Before each game, technicians build two color palettes. Turf colors, mostly greens and browns, turn yellow when the line is drawn. Colors on the other palette, such as uniforms, shoes, balls and flags, stay as they are. So a cleat on the line keeps its own color.
What it cost
Mental Floss reports that the early setup took a truck, a four-man crew and five racks of equipment, and that it cost broadcasters about $25,000 to $30,000 a game. CBS aired a rival system from Princeton Video Image a couple of months after ESPN's debut.
Quick answers
- When did the yellow first down line start?
- ESPN first aired it on September 27, 1998, during a Ravens and Bengals game.
- Who invented the yellow first down line?
- Sportvision developed it with ESPN. ESPN's Jed Drake suggested the yellow.
- Why does the yellow line go under the players?
- The computer only turns turf colors yellow. Uniforms, shoes, the ball and flags stay their own colors.
Sources
- ESPN Press Room, Virtual yellow 1st and Ten line debuted on ESPN 15 years ago today
- Mental Floss, Explaining the Magic Yellow First Down Line
- Engineering and Technology History Wiki, The Making of Football's Yellow First-and-Ten Line
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