After launching their statewide helmet donation campaign two weeks ago, the Broncos have made a significant tweak to the program aimed at alleviating concerns by school districts.
All In, All Covered plans to donate 15,516 new helmets across every Colorado high school football program over the next four years. But after the announcement of the program on Jan. 28, Colorado’s largest school districts expressed reservations over the smart helmets’ data collection and how that data will be used.
The program initially required participating schools to use the InSite smart helmet technology that comes with the donated Riddell Axiom helmets. That technology sends de-identified data directly to Riddell to use for product development, support and enhancements.
Districts such as Denver Public Schools, Jeffco Public Schools, Douglas County School District, Cherry Creek School District and others across the state worried that the data could be used against coaches and schools in the event of an injury. Some districts also cited concerns about student privacy.
So on Monday, the Broncos reversed course and announced that using InSite Analytics is not required to participate in the program. Schools can get the helmets and turn off the smart feature so no impact data is collected or transmitted during practices or games.
School districts that choose not to participate in the Broncos’ $12 million philanthropic campaign this year can opt in during future seasons of the four-year rollout.
The other noteworthy change to All In, All Covered is that the Axiom helmets must be reconditioned every two years. In the initial rollout, the Denver Broncos Foundation said it expected schools to recondition the helmets annually. The schools are responsible for the reconditioning cost.
According to the Broncos, about 60 of the state’s 277 football programs have confirmed their participation in the campaign so far.
Last week, the Broncos said they still expect All In, All Covered to launch on time for the 2025 season, despite many school districts postponing their initial 3-D head scans with Riddell reps that were supposed to begin last week.
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