Ref cam: A camera strapped on the heads of referees has made its debut in a WNBA broadcast for the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever on Saturday.
The camera, according to Sports Illustrated, is mounted above the ref’s ear on the right side.
In the game, official Lamont Simpson wore the camera.
“The first half, it took some adjusting to, especially when you started running and actually broke a sweat,” he told Sports Illustrated. “The goggles started to loosen up and the sweat around the band started to loosen up. The first half was pretty much just adjusting the headset.”
But later, he said it wasn’t noticeable.
“It was fun. We made some adjustments at halftime and the second half it was almost like it wasn’t there,” he added.
Phoenix coach Corey Gaines joked with Simpson before the game about whether his peripheral vision would be impaired by the camera.
While some of the images with Simpson running were a little shaky, the cam offered a different view to the fans watching the game. It happened to catch Simpson giving Candice Dupree a technical foul in the second quarter.
WNBA players were entertained by it with Candace Parker tweeting “Ref cam is the most hilarious invention! Omg...comedy”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
