NEW YORK — Major League Baseball struck a deal with Zoom Video Communications Inc. allowing on-field umpires to watch videos being evaluated by the replay operations centre during contested calls.
MLB first adopted instant replay in September 2008 for home boundary calls and expanded it to a wide variety of decisions for the 2014 season. There were 1,434 video reviews last season that included 1,261 team challenges with 50.2% leading to overturned calls.
Until now, the on-field crew chief listened to the replay umpire in New York with audio only, joined by the umpire who made the initial call if different from the crew chief. The umps walked over to the side of the field through 2013 to listen on a headset, then from 2014-21 an attendant brought out a headset to the field for them. Last year, umps switched to a wireless belt pack and MLB for the first time allowed then to announce replays and decisions over ballpark public address systems.
The NFL, NHL, NBA, and the Premier League — England's top soccer league — already allow in-game officials to watch and review plays via video.
On-field umps this year will have 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets brought out to them by a technician. They will be connected to the Zoom contact centre and the replay operations centre so they can see what replay is being viewed. The replay umpire still gets the final call.
"You’ll be able to see who’s in the chair, who might be with that person, what plays they’re looking at, and be able to pair a visual interaction with the traditional audio interaction that they have discussing the call in the field,” MLB Chief Operations and Strategy Officer Chris Marinak said.
A limited number of broadcasts will have access to the Zoom videos being seen by the umps: Apple TV+ and MLB Network Showcase telecasts. Marinak said the new technology could become available for post-season telecasts, and ballpark videoboards will have access to the Zoom views on the telecasts — which will have the company's branding.
It’s too early to determine whether Zoom can be incorporated into robot plate umpires, the automated ball-strike system being tested throughout Triple-A this season.
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