This week, the NFL announced that in the 2025 season they will use a digital measurement system to conduct chain measurements ...

The NFL is going to implement Hawk-Eye virtual measurement to determine line to gain for a first down instead of the chain ...

The league previously used the chain gang to determine the line to gain ... though the official will still place the ball down on the field. The technology was used during the 2024 NFL preseason.

File: The first-down chains are brought out to measure for a first down during the Kansas City Chiefs against the New York Jets on October 26, 2008 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford ...

While some camera angles suggested he had reached the first down marker, it wasn’t ... officials will still manually spot the ball before the system rules. The chain crew will be there on ...

The chain gang will no longer be the primary method the NFL will use to measure first downs, going with the Hawk-Eye virtual measurement instead.