- Apple and the NHL are collaborating to give their officials Apple Watches
- They will be used in an outdoor game for the first time on March 1
- A personalized application can account for officials and even tell them what players are in the penalty box
Apple and the National Hockey League (NHL) have announced the next step in an association that has seen officials throughout the league equipped with the best Apple watches to help them officiate games.
Announced by the NHL, the officials will use Apple Watches and use a personalized Comm NHL Watch application during an outdoor game for the first time, specifically the match between the blue jackets of Columbus and the Detroit Red Wings at the Ohio stadium, March 1.
The NHL says that officials throughout the league have been using technology on a generalized scale, and almost all officials use a clock this season.
In fact, they have been using and refining during some seasons. The Apple Watches come with a personalized application developed by Presidio, which offers notifications in the game in real time.
Apple Watch in Ice
The NHL says that communication between officials is difficult during games due to the noise of the crowd and the electrical rhythm of the games. An outdoor atmosphere makes it even more challenging, the largest is the lack of a marker that hangs on central ice, which limits how officials can monitor the time and situations of the game.
The officials who use the clock receive haptic notifications during the game, including the game clock and the countdown of the penalty clock, and even the Jersey numbers of which the players are in the penalty box at a given time.
Executive Vice President of Development and Innovation of Business of the NHL, David Lehanski, says that the League has a 90 percent participation rate among officials who use technology. The NHL has been collaborating with Apple for several years, in particular the use of iPad and Mac to deliver videos in real time to coaches and players in the game during the last eight years.
The NHL has future plans to expand technology, including adding support to direct communications among the four ice officials, other Arena officials and officials of the League headquarters in Toronto. Apple Watch can even facilitate communication between officials and coaches in the future.
