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Football fans and referees have a fractured relationship. The UFL is trying to mend it.

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Summary
Nutrition label

78% Informative

Dean Blandino is vice president of officiating for the United Football League and Fox Sports rules analyst.

The UFL invited USA TODAY Sports to Fox Sports' studio in Los Angeles to get an inside look at how the league’s officiating process works.

Blandino uses a multitude of camera angles available at the stadium to ensure whatever call was made on the field is correct.

USA TODAY Sports was in the command center for the final day of the UFL regular season on June 1 .

The command center was able to have limited disruptions to the contest.

The audience can hear what Blandino is looking at, giving viewers a peek into what key components are used to determine a call.

Blandino believes the intensity of distaste with officials has risen.

The UFL allows fans to see the process of its officiating, and viewers getting the scoop helps repair the relationship between the two sides.

It's not like that at the NFL , and Blandino said he’s not sure it will ever get that much transparency on Sundays .

The league has made strides, such as clueing him in on calls when he serves as an analyst.

VR Score

77

Informative language

75

Neutral language

53

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

39

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

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