Experiments by the Ravens and the Buccaneers using an iPad as their playbook “hint at an NFL future in which the devices could play a more prominent role,” according to Joshua Brustein of the N.Y. TIMES. Ravens officials “bought 120 iPads in the off-season,” with the main purpose of switching to an electronic playbook “to make a daunting amount of information available to each player in one place.” But beyond their function as playbooks, tablet devices “can act as film sessions, nutrition guides and work calendars.” While the league “has embraced technology as a way to create a more compelling experience for fans, it is more deliberate about changes that could affect competition.” Any device that can “record or play video cannot be used during pregame preparations or the game itself,” nor can “any type of computer.” The Ravens and the Bucs, therefore, have to “turn off their tablets before they take the field.” The playbook and video functions on the iPad are separate, but the Ravens and the Buccaneers said that they “plan to integrate them, so that a player can look at a diagram of a play and immediately watch a video of it in action.” The tablets can also “be used to do things like monitor how much time each player spends studying.” NFL Media COO Brian Rolapp said that the league’s contract with Motorola Mobility, which “provides the wireless technology used on the field, expires at the end of the season.” The company makes a tablet called the Xoom that “competes with the iPad.” Rolapp: “We have an opportunity on the business end.” Apple, which manufactures the iPad, said that it “had not discussed a deal with the league,” and Motorola “declined to comment” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/18).
