Dallas Cowboys’ Surface Tablets Pull A Romo, Leave Game Early As Coaches Panic With Paper
Like the injured Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Microsoft just can't seem to catch a break in the National Football League. Last night during a match up between Romo's team and the Washington Redskins, a technical issue sidelined the Surface Pro 3 tablets that Microsoft supplies to each team.
It's the latest fumble in Microsoft's $400 million investment inked in 2014 to make Surface the official tablet of the NFL through 2019. During its season debut, announcers mistakenly referred to the Surface tablets on iPads on national TV, giving Microsoft's rival free advertising on one of the world's biggest stages.
Things got off to a rocky start for the 2015 season with Surface again being called an iPad on national TV, though it's been smooth sailing since then. That is until last night when ruggedized versions of Surface Pro 3 tablets on the Cowboys' sideline stopped working. By rule, the Washington Redskins also had to stop using their Surface tablets even though theirs were functioning properly.
The issue forced both teams to bust out their dusty printers to print out paper versions of plays, and wouldn't you know it, the Cowboys ran into issues there as well.
It looked bad for the NFL, but even worse for Microsoft, which can't be pleased that something like this had to happen on Monday Night Football, of all nights. It won't come as any consolation, but the technical issues were just par for course in what turned out to be a strange game from start to finish. Even stranger? At 4-8, the Dallas Cowboys are in the playoff hunt.
It's the latest fumble in Microsoft's $400 million investment inked in 2014 to make Surface the official tablet of the NFL through 2019. During its season debut, announcers mistakenly referred to the Surface tablets on iPads on national TV, giving Microsoft's rival free advertising on one of the world's biggest stages.
Things got off to a rocky start for the 2015 season with Surface again being called an iPad on national TV, though it's been smooth sailing since then. That is until last night when ruggedized versions of Surface Pro 3 tablets on the Cowboys' sideline stopped working. By rule, the Washington Redskins also had to stop using their Surface tablets even though theirs were functioning properly.
Cowboys & NFL officials discussing the faulty printer. Couldn't make this up if I tried. pic.twitter.com/5ZBO6CAyPt
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) December 8, 2015The issue forced both teams to bust out their dusty printers to print out paper versions of plays, and wouldn't you know it, the Cowboys ran into issues there as well.
It looked bad for the NFL, but even worse for Microsoft, which can't be pleased that something like this had to happen on Monday Night Football, of all nights. It won't come as any consolation, but the technical issues were just par for course in what turned out to be a strange game from start to finish. Even stranger? At 4-8, the Dallas Cowboys are in the playoff hunt.
