Saving The Thin Yellow Line

Grown men are weeping in their Bud Lights. Sportswriters are squawking. Just what is it about that darned yellow line?

Ever since Fox Sports cut the beloved digital first-down line from its football broadcasts, Sundays haven’t felt the same. Fox says the technology costs too much—some $25,000 a game—and so Sportvision, the New York special-effects firm that provides the line, is looking for a corporate sponsor to pick up the tab.

“People love the line.