NFL names officiating crew for Super Bowl LVIII

The biggest football game of the year has gotten an officiating assignment, as the NFL announced the crew of officials for Super Bowl LVIII. And the 58th edition of the NFL’s final game, slated for Feb. 11 in Las Vegas, has an experienced team of refs.

All told, there have been nine Super Bowl officiating appearance among the eight refs. The crew will be headed up by Bill Vinovich, who will referee his third.

Vinovich has previously been on the crews for Super Bowl XLIX — when the New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks — and LIV, the Kansas City Chiefs’ triumph over the San Francisco 49ers in early 2020.

The Super Bowl LVIII officiating crew: pic.twitter.com/gQUr8oIuNU

— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) January 23, 2024

The rest of the crew is as follows: umpire Terry Killens, down judge Patrick Holt, line judge Mark Perlman, field judge Tom Hill, side judge Allen Baynes, back judge Brad Freeman, and replay official Mike Chase.

Hill and Perlman were both on the Super Bowl XLIX crew with Vinovich and Chase was on the Super Bowl LIV officiating crew. Both Hill and Perlman will each be officiating their fourth Super Bowls this year.

Perlman, along with being a ref for Super Bowl XLIX, also was on hand for Super Bowls XL and XLIII. Hill was on the crews for Super Bowls XL and LII along with XLIX. Super Bowl XL featured a Pittsburgh Steelers win over the Seahawks, XLIII was another Steelers win, this time against the Arizona Cardinals and LII saw the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Patriots.

Postseason and Super Bowl officiating assignments are considered something of a reward, given to the officials that post strong track records throughout the regular season. The postseason crews are also mixed up from the regular season, with the league pulling what it deems to be the best officials for the most important games of the season.

Officiating assignments for the AFC, NFC championship games were released

The NFL has announced the assignments for the two officiating crews that will referee the NFC and AFC Championship games this weekend. These special assignments are not only given to officials who’ve graded highly throughout the season, but also, Conference Championship officials, including the referee, must have three years of seniority and a prior playoff assignment.

Making the big calls for the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon will be Shawn Smith and his crew. Clete Blakeman is taking the NFC game between the Lions and 49ers in Santa Clara.

Here are the @NFL Championship Weekend referee assignments. #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Ooy6FQJawV

— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) January 22, 2024

The NFC will have the late game on Sunday night, with the Lions taking on the San Francisco 49ers on the West coast. The AFC will have the early game, with the Chiefs taking on the Baltimore Ravens on the East coast.

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this report.