This Super Bowl Will Feature ‘Doink’ Cameras. I’m Sorry, What?

Ready to see your favorite team’s field goal fail from up close? This year’s Super Bowl LVIII is adding a swathe of new tech to the proceedings, but first up on the list is a set of all-new “doink” cams centered on the uprights of Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium. CBS, which is in charge of broadcasting this year’s big game, essentially gives viewers a front-row seat should their favorite team nail one of the uprights during the season’s most-watched game.

Among the 165 cameras trying to capture every angle of the game vertically and horizontally, six cameras will be embedded inside the goalposts themselves, three per end. Supposedly, they’ll be positioned so that no matter how the ball smacks the uprights, fans should have a close-on look. CBS reported that its network will be televising the Super Bowl in 1080p HDR and 4K HDR, just like last year’s big game.

There’s always a swathe of new tech that gets introduced each new Super Bowl. Last year’s game of the Philadelphia Eagles against the Kansas City Chiefs brought in drone cams, far more 4K streaming, expanded hanging skycams, and instant slo-mo replays from multiple angles. This year, the skycams and drone cams will also be getting a look at the masses of tailgaters gathered outside Allegiant Stadium.

Lastly, CBS is bringing out its Techno Bird Crane, a mind-bogglingly massive 53-foot crane camera that can dive along the stadium to get those massive, sweeping shots. We’re probably going to see that big crane cam unleashed during this year’s Taylor Swift-fronted halftime show.

The “Doink” cameras are going to be pretty small, and we may only understand their picture quality if, and only if, somebody flubs a kick during LVIII. Likely, the NFL and CBS are trying for the close action shot of what happened during last year’s Super Bowl. During Super Bowl LVII, the Chief’s Harrison Butker hit an upright in the 4th and 3rd, leaving the two teams agonizingly tied.

Perhaps CBS would want to get the most out of flubs, such as the 2019 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears, where kicker Cody Parkey hit not one but two goalposts on the same game-winning kick. The kerfuffle only kept on kerfuffling afterward when the video showed that the Eagle’s Treyvon Hester actually managed to tip the ball ever so slightly.