Struggling NFL Resorting to Camera Tricks to Bring Viewers Back

The NFL’s last few seasons have not been their best and brightest, and a number of controversies have accumulated surrounding the league of late.

American football fans had been thrust into an unwanted conversation about racial equality and the First Amendment over the course of the last few years.  And it’s not that these aren’t worthy discussions to be having, but sports fans often turn to their favorite teams and games as an escape, and the introduction of such heavy topics was off-putting.

In the last few years, the league has lost viewers rather steadily, both in-person and via broadcast.

Now, in an effort to entice viewers to tune into the Super Bowl, the league is trotting out all of the bells and whistles.

Coverage of Super Bowl LV will have a more cinematic feel, thanks to cameras and camera enhancements never before used in football’s biggest game. One of those enhancements is the Trolley Cam, which will zipline along a wire extending from one end of the stadium to the other at speeds up to 65 miles per hour. It will be as if the viewer is watching from the eighth row of the stands. Three sky cams will also be deployed.

Among the several on-field cameras will be two Sony Venice cameras. Usually reserved for commercials and movies, these cameras will provide a sort of 3D look, akin to walking on the field with the players.

CBS Sports is also set to deploy a 53-foot Movie Bird crane, typically used in major movies and television productions. This crane, which will be set up on the stadium’s upper concourse, will give the viewer broad, dramatic views of all the action.

Only time will tell what sort of viewership the NFL can bring back for the big game.