For all the technological advancements in football over the years, the ball is still spotted by eye and measured by the chain gang. Change is coming, however, with the NFL moving to an optical ...

The NFL is planning to phase out chain-gang measurements this upcoming season. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Wednesday that the league is slated to move to Hawk-Eye virtual technology to ...

The NFL will make a 21st century approach to its first down measurement system for the 2025 season, getting rid of the chain gang and instead going with a technology tracking system. The news was ...

If the league is able to implement that sort of technology with accuracy, it would render the "chain gang," the traditional way of measuring for first downs, as nothing more than a backup option.

The chain gang has been omnipresent at NFL games for most of the league's existence, but astute fans of the league will notice that it's missing from some preseason games in 2024. The reason for ...