REDMOND, Wash. - Few things are left to chance when it comes to N.F.L. games. Strict rules govern everything from the uniforms to the referees to the condition of the field.
So when Microsoft agreed to a long-term sponsorship with the N.F.L. last year, the company knew it would be doing business with a meticulous partner. It learned this firsthand when it developed a Surface tablet computer for players and coaches to use during games starting this season.
In months of discussions with N.F.L. teams, technology experts and the competition committee, Microsoft was told the tablets had to be rugged enough to survive drops, easy enough to use in a hurry and big enough to show its screen for several people at once. They had to work in extreme temperatures - hot and cold - resist glare and hold a battery charge for a full game, and they had to work on a secure wireless network without delays.
The cart that holds up to 16 tablets had to have strong wheels so it could be rolled onto the sideline; a tilted top to prevent cups from being left there; and a power supply, heater and cooler inside to keep the tablets performing in top shape. Microsoft insisted that the box be painted cyan, the same color as the tablet.
'We needed to make sure this can withstand the rigors of the N.F.L.,' said John Haley, the manager of one of Microsoft's development labs, as he held a small replica of the cart, made on a 3-D printer. 'We tried to find a balance between weight, durability and utility.'
As the N.F.L. heads toward midseason, the toughened tablets, which download high-definition photographs of plays moments after they occur, have blended into the sidelines. But their development offers a window into the relationship between the N.F.L. and its business partners, particularly those vying for one of the few spots on a field that tens of millions of fans see every week.
The tablets are also a study in how the relationships between sports leagues and their sponsors have evolved, from the days when companies were happy to pay to have their names on billboards in return for tickets to now, when they push to embed their products into the game.
'There are definitely more companies trying to be more a part of the action and essentially using the sport as a demo ad for their product,' said Bob Dorfman, who writes the Sports Marketers' Scouting Report. 'There is a strong connection between the product, sports and performance aspect of it.'
Microsoft, of course, is not the first company to win a spot on the field.
In tennis, for instance, I.B.M. has provided statistics to fans in the stadium and at home as a way to show corporate decision-makers what technology they can harness.
For decades in the N.F.L., players have taken drinks from orange Gatorade jugs, the contents of which are often dumped on the winning coach. Coaches wore Motorola headsets before Bose won that spot this season. Nike, Riddell and others have provided athletic gear.
Microsoft's relationship with the N.F.L. is more complex because it is not just trying to sell tablets to consumers and football coaches; it is also trying to boost the profile of its Xbox game machines.
Since last November, millions of Xbox One users have been able to use their consoles as set-top boxes to receive updates on their fantasy football teams, invitations to play the Madden video game and access to RedZone and video highlights from N.F.L. - all while watching live games.
The multifaceted sponsorship was not cheap, and it is one reason the N.F.L. took in $1.1 billion in sponsorship revenue last year. The tech giant will reportedly pay the N.F.L. $400 million over the five-year life of the deal, figures that Microsoft and the league would not confirm.
Whatever the number, Yusuf Mehdi, who oversees marketing and strategy for Microsoft's Devices and Studios, which includes the Xbox and the Surface, said it was money well spent.
'By far, the N.F.L. is the crown jewel of entertainment,' he said while showing off the Xbox at the company's headquarters, east of Seattle. 'It has that fan passion, and we have that with the Xbox. And on the sideline, it really showcases what Microsoft can do when it brings its full muscle to bear.'
That muscle started wrestling a couple of years ago with how to create the 'sideline of the future,' said Brian Rolapp, the executive vice president of media at the N.F.L. As Motorola's deal with the league was coming to a close, league officials thought about things they wanted to improve. One was the black-and-white photos taken by cameras in stadiums of every play of every game, he said. For years, assistants grabbed the photos off printers on the sideline, stuffed them into three-ring binders and gave them to coaches and players to review. But the photos were grainy and cumbersome to collate and could not be annotated.
The N.F.L. spoke to several technology companies before settling on Microsoft, partly because it could produce a tablet for the sideline and turn the Xbox into a conduit for N.F.L. content. Microsoft, meanwhile, saw the value in getting its products in front of millions of fans.
'I'm not sure where sponsorship deals end and media deals begin,' Rolapp said. 'People spend a lot of time on a 30-second commercial trying to convey the attributes of their product. This actually shows it.'
Introduced in the preseason, the tablets have worked largely as designed. Brian Schneider, special teams coach of the Seattle Seahawks, said he liked that the photos were delivered to his tablet in seconds because he often had to chase players running on and off the field. The clarity of the photos and the ability to zoom in help him highlight opposing teams' blocking schemes and decoys.
'It's so much clearer, you can get so much more information,' Schneider said at the Seahawks' training facility. 'I used to wait for the photos to arrive, and I'd get antsy. Now, I get the photos by the time the players come off the field.'
Giants quarterback Eli Manning said he liked being able to look at up to four images on one screen instead of thumbing through four pages, and he can enlarge the images as needed.
'I look to see if there's a way the defense tipped its hand before the play was called,' Manning said. 'The technology is a help. The more information, the better off we are.'
While more sophisticated than the old photos - which are still printed as backups - there are limits on the use of the tablets. Teams can have only 13 of them on the sideline and 12 in the coaches' booth, and all of them must be returned after games so photos and annotations can be erased. Photos are sent to the tablets over a wireless network operated by the N.F.L., and if it fails, photos can be installed by connecting the tablets to a server in the cart.
Players cannot take selfies, for instance, because the cameras have been disabled, and the tablets have no other programs installed and cannot be connected to the Internet.
There have been hiccups, most notably when the wireless network has crashed, forcing teams to use the paper backups. Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, said the network has temporarily failed during games. But, he said, the paper photo delivery has crashed, too, not to mention the radios that coaches use to speak to their quarterbacks.
'I'd say that's all kind of part of the game,' Belichick said last month. 'I can't think of too many games where we haven't had something along' the way.
Microsoft has made adjustments. Software was adjusted to prevent the tablet from overheating and to make it possible to scroll photos while zoomed in, instead of having to back out, select a new photo and zoom in again. Microsoft also added a 'favorites' button so coaches could quickly return to photos they liked. Wireless signal and battery indicators were added so coaches would know if the network crashed or the tablet needed to be recharged.
While these fixes were straightforward, Microsoft said it understood that the N.F.L. leaves little margin for error and that once players, coaches and the league are comfortable with photos on tablets, more sophisticated features can be added.
'Video could be powerful, next generation data from chips on jerseys,' Mehdi said. 'There are a lot of ways we're just scratching the surface.'
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