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In an example of high-tech innovation meets America’s favorite contact sport, the Arlington-based United Football League announced that it has kicked off a new technology-focused innovation division this season that seeks to improve the game via innovation and new services.Called FAST — Football Advancement through Sports Technology — the division will work with both established and emerging sports media and technology companies to test and launch innovations and services to improve the game of football, the UFL said.“Innovation is a cornerstone of the United Football League,” UFL Senior Vice President of Technology Scott Harniman. “FAST will create a blueprint for companies with products and services designed to have a positive impact on the way professional football is played, coached, and consumed by fans.”FAST will be based at UFL’s Arlington headquarters, near where the Arlington Renegades play at Choctaw Stadium. Training camps and regular season practices are held for all eight UFL teams in Arlington. FAST will provide its technology partners with access to more than 600 players and coaches for testing and development, the league said. Also, FAST will provide to those partners executive guidance, football specific expertise, operational support and experimentation, the UFL said.The league said the new division will utilize Choctaw Stadium as its primary sports testing venue where the UFL will support private 5G networking as its foundational infrastructure.“The ultimate goal of FAST will be to shrink product development cycles and test, gate and launch innovations and services that have the ability to take the game to a new level,” UFL Vice President of Football Technology Brad Campbell said.The UFL said the FAST program will focus on three key emerging areas for the coming season by teaming up with the following partners:Mindfly, creator of an immersive player POV body camera;

SkillCorner, for computer vision and contextual tracking on the field; 

Sportable, for sensor-based ball tracking for tactical insights. The UFL said that FAST and Mindfly have worked together to engineer Mindfly’s first-ever player body camera for professional football. The league said that during its 2024 season, the Mindfly body camera was tested on UFL officials during the playoff game between the Birmingham Stallions and the Michigan Panthers.FAST and Mindfly worked in conjunction with the NFL at the East West Shrine Bowl game in Arlington, where the Mindfly player body armor was worn for the first time in live game action.During the 2025 season, the UFL said it will use up to four lightweight Mindfly player body armor vests in two games each weekend throughout the season. It said that each vest will include a body camera giving fans a player’s view of the game action. The league said the body camera video will be integrated into game broadcasts on both FOX and ESPN platforms.The UFL said it will partner this season with SkillCorner to provide comprehensive contextual tracking data for all its games. Utilizing all 22 camera feeds, SkillCorner will employ computer vision technology to provide player tracking and aggregated data at scale for all players on all plays in all games, including speed, distance and separation while also providing deeper analytical data points from each game, the UFL said.  The UFL also said it will utilize Sportable’s wireless, portable local positioning system in the stadium to deliver premium, minimal lag data from UFL smart footballs equipped with Sportable’s proprietary sensor technology. This season, the UFL said it will integrate Smart Balls into its team practices and UFL showcases to assist its football operations staff through the use of novel quarterback and position specific technical and tactical performance evaluation tools during next generation combine drills.Also, Sportable and the UFL said they will collaborate in further research into how Smart Ball data might further enhance officiating in key aspects of the game. FAST and FOX Sports said they will work together to develop augmented real-time graphics for broadcast and digital content powered by Sportable’s recent purchase of Intaneous, known for groundbreaking technologies applied to live action data.Marty Wieder, executive director of the Arlington Economic Development Corp., said the FAST program is another example of an Arlington-based company leading the way via innovation.“The Arlington EDC board of directors is very intrigued with UFL FAST — and the innovation benefits it brings to Arlington,” he said. “For the UFL to put such an emphasis on football advancement and exploring other ways to heighten safety through potential rules changes, it may lead to other improvements that stimulate new jobs and enterprises.”Wieder said the effort involves multiple community players.“Our board also made sure that UFL FAST involved and included UTA students and faculty in this effort. The UFL will permit students to intern and professors to access data for associated papers and reports that again may lead to new business investment,” Wieder said.  He said the FAST program is a great follow-up to Sportec Solutions, the Germany-based company that relocated its North American headquarters to Arlington last year. Sportec Solutions develops next-generation solutions for soccer match data and officiating technology, and maintains a long-term agreement with Major League Soccer (MLS) as the official provider for live data and video assistant referee services. Lance Murray is a freelance contributor covering business for the Arlington Report.