Instant replay

For the album by The Monkees, see Instant Replay (Monkees). For the album and song by Dan Hartman, see that article.

The instant replay is a technology used in the National Hockey League, National Football League and the National Basketball Association to ensure proper calls are made.

Starting with the 2005 season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association allowed the use of instant replay for all Division I-A football conferences, just a year after the Big Ten Conference experimented with replay.

The NHL uses video replays mainly to verify the proper awarding of goals. This is done through an NHL official called a Video Goal Judge, who watches the game in a room in the upper levels of an arena, and will review goals at the request of the on-ice referees. Things that are commonly reviewed include: whether the puck crosses the goal line (the entire puck has to cross the line in order for it to be considered a goal), whether the puck crosses the goal line before the expiration of time, whether the puck was purposely kicked into the goal, and whether the puck was scored with a high-stick (in which case the goal would be disallowed).

Video replays in the NHL are usually requested by the referees, although a coach can request one through the referee if he feels that a disputed goal should be reviewed. No time-outs are charged to either teams if the referees decide to review a disputed goal.

In the NFL, each coach has two challenges per game. A challenge can be made only on certain reviewable calls before the two minute warning in each half when the team has at least 1 time-out remaining in the half. Inside the two minute warning, the officials choose whether or not to challenge close calls. When a coach decides to challenge a call, he throws a red flag onto the field, indicating the challenge to the referees. The chief referee has 90 seconds to watch the instant replay of the play and to decide if the original call was correct. The referee must see "incontrovertible visual evidence" for a call to be overturned. If the challenge fails, the original ruling stands and the challenging team is charged with a time-out. If the challenge overrules the previous call, the call is changed with no loss of a time-out. Prior to the 2004 NFL season, the instant replay rule was slightly changed to allow a third challenge if both of the original two challenges were successful.

In overtime, as after the 2-minute warning, it is the officials discretion whether to review a call or not.

In the 2004 football season, instant replay reviews were used expirimentally in the Big Ten Conference only. For the 2005 season, all conferences were allowed to use instant replay. Each conference can set their own rules.

Most conferences are following the Big Ten's 2004 system. In this system coaches cannot challenge calls; instead, a technical advisor (usually a former college or NFL official) reviews the play from a replay booth and alerts the referees on the field that he is reviewing the play. The technical advisor decides if the call should be overturned. This is the system used for the 2005 season by the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big 12, Mid-American Conference, Pac-10, and the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 provides field monitors which allow the on-field referee to assist the replay official; however, the replay official still makes the final decision.

Conference USA uses a similar system, but the on-field referee actually makes the decision. A field monitor allows the referee to look at the play.

The Mountain West Conference provides for coaches challenges. Each coach is allowed one challenge per half. If the call is overturned, the coach who challenged the call gets a second challenge for that half. If not, the challenging team loses a timeout. No more than two challenges are allowed per half by each coach. The review itself is handled similarly to the Big Ten; a replay official looks at the play and decides if the call should be overturned. The replay official can also review plays himself; a coach's challenge is not necessary to overturn a call.

The Big Ten, MAC, and SEC only allow broadcast video (for games that are televised) to be used to determine the correct call. The other conferences allow broadcast video and scoreboard video. Most conference provide video equipment for games that are not televised. The conferences make arrangements for video equipment for non-televised conference games. All intraconference games use instant replay. For non-conference games, the visiting team can decide if replay should be used.

The Sun Belt and Western Athletic conferences are not using replay in 2005 but both plan on using it for 2006.

The NCAA also approved the use of replay review for all 28 bowl games for the 2005 season.

In NBA basketball, the officials can choose to watch an instant replay of a buzzer beater to determine if the shot was made before time expired.

Instant replay has made inroads into other major sports, although it is not used in official capacities for the most part.

• In Tennis, the MacCAM is used to replay close or controversial line calls during network broadcasts of the game. Though the system is only used for the benefit of the fans and sportscasters, there has been discussion of adopting the system officially.