First Affirmative Speech (Kevin)

The use of a Sky Judge in the NFL is a no brainer because it fixes the NFL’s bad refereeing

debacle while costing next to nothing for a league of its size. A Sky Judge would be an 8th

official in the booth at NFL games, reviewing everything that happens on the field, and

correcting the clear bad calls that litter the league. During week 6 of the current 2019 NFL

season, on “Monday Night Football,” the Lions played the Packers. In this recent game a

penalty was called against the Lions that should not have been called, and while the NFL later

apologized for the blown call, nothing could be done. With 1 minute and 45 seconds left in the

game, the refs called an illegal hands to the face on Lions defensive end, Trey Flowers. On the

replays, we see that Trey Flowers had his hand gripped on the shoulder of the Packers

offensive tackle, David Bakhtiatri. While many things in the NFL can be reviewed during the

course of the game, complete with loads of Microsoft screens and endless beer commercials,

hands to the face cannot be. This changed the course of the game and the Packers’ ended up

winning. A Sky Judge could have quickly discerned that there was no penalty on the play and

reversed the call almost instantaneously. The possibility of having correct calls in NFL games is

something that anyone interested in the league would kill for. After the blown call in the Lions

game, fans put up billboards across Detroit about the terrible call and many burned referee

jerseys. While the NFL has the responsibility to be fair to its fans, it may have an even bigger

responsibility coming. Now that the supreme court has allowed states to make betting legal, the

NFL has an increased responsibility to ensure the games are officiated in a fair manner.

Violence and other repercussions could follow if the NFL doesn’t keep the games fair. In 2001,

the Browns and the Jaguars met in a game that would later go down as bottlegate. During the

game, the referees didn’t have time to check on a possible incomplete pass. After another play

had been run, the officials wanted to look at the “completed pass,” which isn’t allowed because
another play took place before a theoretical Sky Judge could pause play to review something

fishy. This officiating error led to fans in the stadium throwing beer bottles at referees and

players, some being hit. If any personal safety for the players or officials could be assisted by a

Sky Judge, it seems like an easy decision. The reasons for implementing a Sky Judge seem

obvious and plentiful, but the implementation of something new can always be overly expensive.

In truth, adding a Sky Judge would cost almost nothing. According to Ethan Wolff-Mann of

Money Magazine, in 2019, a referee will make a base salary of $201,000 dollars per year.

CNBC’s Abigail Hess reports that there are 121 referees currently. The NFL currently uses 7 per

game. That means that per every 7 referees, one more would need to be added. Rounding up,

18 referees would be added. That would add up to a base salary of 3.61 million dollars per year.

According to Bloomberg, the NFL makes 15 billion dollars per year and growing fast. 0.02% of

the NFL’s salary, or 1 dollar for every 4,155 that the league makes.