They Don’t Have Instant Replay
Modern professional sports are slowly adding technology to officiating, in spite of the salaries officials are currently earning.
NFL Officials - the average salary for NFL officials is $205k per year. There are 121 of them in the league and there are 7 on the field for each professional game. The NFL uses something called SMART to provide every single available camera angle for instant replay, including ones NOT seen on television. There is also a central instant replay booth called McNally GameDay Central to assist in making the most accurate calls possible. Coaches have the ability to challenge calls made (or not) by the on field officials in real time.
MLB Officials - the median salary for MLB umpires is $300k per year. There are 76 of them across baseball and there are 4 per game during the regular season, adding two more during the playoffs. MLB is using instant replay as well, with managers being able to challenge certain calls by umpires. During spring training this year, technology was tested that will eventually call balls and strikes on each pitch.
NHL Officials - the median salary for NHL referees is about $260k. There are 70 total full-time referees and linesmen with some occasional augmentation from part timers who split time between NHL and AHL games. There are a total of three officials on the ice for any game, and they arguably have the most physically demanding job of any professional officials. The NHL has limited use of instant replay but do use in-stadium goal review officials and a centralized War Room in Toronto that can assist and make final decisions on goals.
NBA Officials - the median salary for NBA officials is about $350k. There are three officials on the court, but the NBA has an elaborate technological system for instant replay. Using a system called Hawk-Eye, players and the ball are tracked in 3-D. There are dozens of cameras and an instant replay center to support each game. Like other sports, coaches have the ability to challenge on court decisions, but instant replay is also used for clock accuracy as well as locations for out of bounds and toe placement for three-point shots.
Professional Soccer - it is different in leagues and tournaments around the globe, but FIFA and professional leagues have instant replay technology. In the English Premier league, referees average a base salary of about $150k per season but also get paid about $1500 per game. At 38 games per season, they are adding an additional $50 to 60k per season. Technology focuses mostly on calling offsides which gets down to millimeters, but the league also uses “Goal Line Technology” that tracks ball telemetry and when the entire ball crosses the goal line, the referee is notified by a special watch on his wrist that immediately vibrates.
Why do we have all this technology to ensure our officiating is so accurate? Take Las Vegas and betting money out of the equation, because that DEFENITELY plays into it. We, as fans, want the MOST accurate decisions possible. We want effort rewarded. We want penalties called and punishment doled out. We will wait, impatiently, while the officials review the film and huddle and discuss and watch monitors and talk over headsets to make sure they get it as right as they possibly can.
But why do we NEED it? Not want it but need it. We need it because we know humans and our abilities to see, process, interpret, judge, and act are inherently flawed, especially under physical and mental duress. We just cannot be relied upon to be 100% accurate when it counts the most. So, we are maximizing instant replay to ensure we get the call right.
Even then, it isn’t 100% accurate. Even with all the technology possible, bad calls stand and no correction is made. It happens.
Most NFL refs work 17 games with the best working 21 games. MLB umpires work around 180 games including the playoffs. Hockey refs are in the 90-game window and so are NBA refs. On a very busy year, the best soccer refs might work 70 games. None of these events last more than four hours.
The median salary for a police officer in the United States is $77k. Most departments are understaffed, leaving many officers working well over 250 days per year for 8-10 hours per shift. Many of them have a single body camera and maybe a camera on their vehicle. Many of them operate completely alone, not even with a partner to back them up. There is no instant replay for them. The decisions they make and the actions they take don’t get a “do-over”.
And they aren’t officiating a game played by overpaid children. They are risking their lives to protect our lives. If they make a wrong call, someone may get hurt or killed… including themselves or an innocent bystander. They lead one of the most stressful lives doing one of the most stressful jobs on the planet. They have high suicide rates.
They don’t have instant replay. Those cameras are there to protect them, but also to prosecute them. That car camera and that body cam are “after the fact” tools and provide zero help in the moment.
We know humans are flawed. We know humans cannot be relied upon to make 100% accurate decisions under any conditions, let alone physical and mental duress. They have an instant to make life and death decisions. They aren’t calling offsides or holding or balls and strikes. When a referee or an umpire make a bad call, it can get reversed. At worst, they end up on Sportscenter and maybe get a stain on their reputation.
If a cop makes a bad decision, they end up on the nightly news, they end up in court, and they could end up in jail. Their lives are all over the news. The entire public sometimes weighs in on their decisions.
They get paid less and work more. They make the toughest of decisions. They do it under the worst conditions. They live under the highest level of scrutiny. Everything they do is second guessed. Every decision is subject to review, with the worst possible outcomes.
Next time you want to criticize a cop for the decision they’ve made, take a breath. This isn’t professional sports. They Don’t Have Instant Replay.