Hope for 4K Football this year?

Today is historically the busiest day of the year for The Solid Signal Blog. As football season kicks off in earnest, people are looking for tips to deal with satellite and antenna problems, and there’s no better resource for those answers. If you’re new to The Solid Signal Blog, welcome! I hope you found the answers you’re looking for. I also thank you for finding this article.

No NFL football in 4K

It is true. At this point in time there hasn’t been any announcement. No one has come forth to say that you’ll see any game in 4K this year. You’d think by now if there was going to be any 4K football you would have heard about it.

Why is this so hard?

Other sports have been broadcast in 4K, so why not football? Football is the most camera-intensive sport. It’s the only sport where there’s a camera on cables going over the action. It’s also the most graphics-intensive sport, with virtual lines of scrimmage, real-time illustrations and plenty of slow motion replays. That has to figure into the situation.

I have been told that several NFL stadiums are fully 4K-ready, with 4K cameras everywhere, 4K recording equipment, and all the connections that a broadcast truck would need to get 4K video out. I don’t know if it’s possible to uplink it directly to a satellite, but it’s definitely possible to stream it over the internet to a broadcast center located somewhere else.

Will it be DIRECTV to the rescue?

DIRECTV usually puts out its 4K schedules about a month in advance. That could mean they are planning some 4K for later in the year. It’s also possible — though unlikely — that we’ll see a 4K Super Bowl this year. That’s something people have been asking for… for a long time.

I know that DIRECTV is the absolute leader in 4K and the only service with a live 4K channel that’s on 24/7/365. They’re the logical choice to partner with, since the NFL already has a strong relationship with them. They also have more 4K than anyone.

We’re only in the first period

If the NFL season were a football game, we’d just be a few minutes into the first. Hopefully by the time we get to the two minute warning, we’ll see a lot more 4K. Fingers crossed!

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.