Zebra Technologies Inks Multi-Year Extension with Reese’s Senior Bowl

Zebra Technologies  announced a partnership extension through 2024 with the Reese’s Senior Bowl. As part of the exclusive partnership, the company will continue providing its RFID player and ball tracking technology to deliver important player performance insights for the practices leading up to the game and the game itself.

A new element of the exclusive partnership in 2022 will be Zebra’s presentation of several offensive and defensive player performance awards across categories such as fastest player, most distance traveled, most max accelerations, longest pass, highest velocity pass, highest spin rate pass, highest punt and more.

Additionally, Zebra and Stark RFID, its PartnerConnect Registered Reseller, will provide credentialing and related services support for all game week attendees including players, coaching staffs, game support staff, and media in the Stark RFID Accreditation Center.

“Zebra Technologies is thrilled to continue its relationship with the Reese’s Senior Bowl to provide the data and performance metrics necessary for NFL coaches, scouts and general managers to evaluate prospective NFL talent,” said John Pollard, VP, business development of Zebra Sports, Zebra Technologies.

“In addition to providing the Senior Bowl with best-in-class player tracking technology, we are looking forward to offering additional services such as credentialing and other game week enhancements to further improve the experience for fans and attendees.”

To enable the data collection, Zebra attaches RFID tags to players’ shoulder pads to transmit real-time location data to gather metrics such as player speed, distance traveled, orientation and acceleration. During the Senior Bowl, Zebra will track more than 130 players, generating daily metrics such as total distance traveled during each practice session and the game and the top speed they reach among other achievements.

Specialized RFID-tagged footballs will also capture compelling passing and kicking information for all quarterbacks, kickers, and punters. This ball data will include velocity, rotation, distance, and height.

Zebra software will be used to compile and analyze daily summary reports from all practice sessions and the Senior Bowl game which will be distributed to NFL teams’ scouting and coaching staffs to use in their player evaluation processes leading up the NFL Combine and the NFL Draft. This past year, the game produced 106 total picks, representing 41% of the entire NFL draft, including 36 in the first three rounds.

Data collected for each practice and game will also be made available to broadcast and media partners along with the players upon request.

“The Reese’s Senior Bowl takes great pride in providing NFL decision-makers with an unparalleled scouting experience and that includes giving them reliable on-field tracking data,” said Jim Nagy, executive director, Reese’s Senior Bowl. “We are pleased to extend our partnership with Zebra Technologies to continue to benefit from its proven invaluable sports tracking technology.”

The 73rd annual Reese’s Senior Bowl will kick off at 1:30 p.m. eastern time on Feb. 5, 2022, at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. It will air live on NFL Network.

Zebra is entering its eighth year as the Official On-Field Player-Tracking Provider for the NFL. During the 2020-21 NFL season, Zebra’s RFID solution enabled a real-time digital view to track the movement of 2,880 players plus all the officials on the field of play.