The helmet-cam had a short-lived burst of popularity when it was first introduced to NFL fans and MLB fans. Since then the camera suspended on metal-wires across the length the field is the most popular angle for NFL b-roll.
That is until we saw the GoPro Ref cam, which was introduced in Australian Rugby and worn by professional referee Chris Pollock. The video is exactly what it sounds like, a camera from the point-of-view of the referee. Since the footage hit the internet the idea of a ref-cam has become extremely popular on social-media sites and forums.
The footage from Pollock is available all across the internet. The idea comes with interesting ideas, and is certainly the best advertising plug that GoPro could possibly have hoped for. GoPro itself has marketed their cameras, applications and software towards extreme sports and their participants. They are some of the smallest, lightest and durable HD options on the market today and the idea of professional sports using them on the field could launch GoPro into the stratosphere (where we are assuming a GoPro camera would capture the moment).
The idea of seeing exactly what a referee saw during a crucial penalty, score or any pivotal moment does sound intriguing, but could spell disaster if the ref is ever caught in a poor call, when the world could tell his angle was less than ideal. The NFL is usually the most proactive sport when trying out new ideas, baseball is still very conservative when introducing technology to enhance the game and prefers the traditional methods the game was based on.
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