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How the iPad changed the NFL
The NFL season is sneaking up on American football fans faster than we know it, with all training camps starting up within the next two weeks. There's one thing that will be new to many of the NFL teams this year: iPads. NFL.com's Jeff Darlington provided an in-detail look last Friday at how the iPad and an innovative app are changing the way that football players and coaches sift through the mountains of statistics, game videos, and play diagrams that make up team playbooks. We've discussed a typical NFL playbook solution -- iPads and an app called Digital Playbook -- before, but Darlington's post really points out how many teams have either started replacing paper playbooks and videotapes/DVDs with iPads or are about to. A quick survey of the 32 NFL teams shows that fully half of them will be using the iPad in one way or another for the 2012 season. That's not counting the many teams that are letting players use personal iPads for video review purposes. Many teams are using solutions from Digital Playbooks or Global Aptitude to keep the playbooks secure, although players (like Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams) might do something dumb or spiteful and tweet a screenshot from the playbook. Needless to say, iPads have found a place in NFL team locker rooms and on team airplanes, and we're likely to hear a lot more about innovative uses for Apple's tablet in sports as the season progresses. [via CNET]
NFL's Denver Broncos embrace the iPad
The NFL Denver Broncos not only have Peyton Manning, but they're also getting a lot of iPads. A report in the Denver Post today mentioned that the team is in the process of moving the weekly team playbooks from the traditional printed copy to a digital version on the iPad. The team will purchase 120 top-end 64 GB iPads with Verizon Wireless 4G service every season, but expects to recoup the cost by not having to print and distribute those 500-page paper playbooks each week. The Broncos join the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the only teams that have embraced tablet technology. The iPads are running a digital playbook app called PlayerLync that gives players and coaches the capability of adding notes to video play highlights from the iPad. Those notes are saved on a server, and Broncos personnel can access that information from previous games. Even when the players and coaches aren't using the playbook app, changes can be pushed to the app automatically. The team is also planning to push game video to the iPads as soon as one hour after each game. The playbook can be erased remotely if the iPad is lost or stolen -- that's something that can't be done with a hard-copy playbook. The Broncos are also counting on using the iPad for business and player operations as well, being the first NFL team to integrate all facets of operations onto a tablet. You won't see the iPads on the sideline this season, though. The NFL doesn't allow them during games, although this season players and coaches can have the iPads in the locker room up to kickoff.
