Considering the NFL apparently can’t even paint the field without screwing it up, we’re very curious to see how this season’s rollout of new data chip-equipped balls goes.
So curious, in fact, that we may just test out some of our own, thanks to Wilson, who just announced a tech-infused pigskin that lets armchair quarterbacks collect better data than the the pros.
The Wilson X Connected Football uses internal sensors to detect distance, speed, spiral efficiency, spin rate and whether a pass was caught or dropped. Those statistics are then sent to an accompanying app so users can compare their numbers for bragging rights.
The battery-powered sensor unit has enough juice to monitor 200,000 tosses, and the ball also offers users the chance to simulate a five-second pass rush and run the two-minute drill using just the ball, a smartphone and the wrist-mounted holder that’s included with the ball.
“I don’t want to call it ‘Madden for the backyard,’ but it’s built off similar ideas,” Wilson Labs VP Bob Thurman told Wired. “There’s a simulated blitz. A sack timer, basically. You hear it ticking down, and you have to get rid of the ball.”
Speaking of Madden, the $200 ball includes a copy of the 2017 edition of the iconic video game and preorders — which just launched today — ship September 8th, the day the season begins.
Inflate accordingly.
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