NBC Sports Network, Cowboys to Present 360-Degree Views with 'FreeD'

NBC Sports and the Dallas Cowboys will provide viewers and fans in AT&T Stadium with 360-degree coverage of select Red Zone plays.

Working with Replay Technologies, Inc., the network and NFL club will debut FreeD during the Sept. 8 Sunday Night Football opener between the Cowboys and NFC East rival, the New York Giants.

The FreeD system will utilize 24 high-speed cameras mounted in the stadium -- a dozen in each red zone placed on both sides of the field from the 20-yard line to the goal line and in the back of each end zone -- to provide replays of key red-zone plays from a 360-degree perspective.

The technology from the Israeli firm Replay Technologies is akin to what YES Network has presented on New York Yankees home telecasts. YES View affords virtual three-dimensional vistas of batting and plays at the plate and first from intertwined 4K cameras shooting at 200 frames per second.

In addition, NBC Sports plans to use the FreeD system for the Oct. 5 Notre Dame-Arizona State contest, and the Oct.13 Redskins-Cowboys SNF game (in addition to any Cowboys home matchups flexed into primetime) at AT&T Stadium.  Fans at Jerry's World will also see FreeD replays on the scoreboard at all home games, as well as on Cowboys local programming during the season.

“The Cowboys are the perfect partner, because AT&T Stadium is the most technologically advanced stadium in the world, and the organization is constantly striving to provide the best entertainment experience for their fans,” said Fred Gaudelli, coordinating producer of Sunday Night Football. “Being able to seamlessly move from side to side and around an entire play without switching shots will entertain and inform the fans at the stadium and watching our telecast. Fans will think they are playing a video game or watching a Sci-fi movie, but they’ll actually be viewing football as never presented before.”