Who are the Super Bowl 58 referees? All you need to know about officials for Chiefs vs 49ers 

The referees in the Super Bowl are always a topic of debate. They're tasked with calling the game accurately without even giving the slightest indication of favor to one team or the other. That is true of every single game and referees often come under fire, but it is intensely magnified at the big game.

In Las Vegas this year, the referee crew will need to be at their best. A couple of weeks before the big game officially takes place, the league has gone ahead and announced the crew early.

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All you need to know about Super Bowl 58 officials

The NFL's Football Operations X account shared to social media with the big announcement. The ref crew is almost as important as the two teams who are actually going to play in the game.

The crew chief and head referee is longtime ref Bill Vinovich. Vinovich is in his 18th NFL season, his 15th as a referee. This year's big game will be his 19th postseason job:

• 3 Wild Card Playoffs
• 7 Divisional Playoffs
• 6 Conference Championships
• 3 Super Bowls

Vinovich was the referee for Super Bowl XLIX and Super Bowl LIV. Terry Killens will be the umpire on his crew. Down judge Patrick Holt and Killens are only eligible to work the Super Bowl this year, so they're in for their first year.

Line judge Mark Perlman and field judge Tom Hill are both retiring after the game, so their final swan song comes on the sports world's biggest stage. This is the second time an NFL referee has retired following his work in the Super Bowl.

The rest of the positions are as follows:

• Allen Baynes, Side Judge
• Brad Freeman, Back Judge
• Mike Chase, Replay Official

All eyes will be on these referees as they helm the biggest sports game of the year and will try to avoid being in the spotlight for as much as possible.

Last year, they ended up in the center of it after a holding call granted the Kansas City Chiefs a first-down and allowed them to whittle the clock down to kick a last-second game-winning field goal.

The refs have been announced for the Super Bowl

This year, there's no telling what will happen. Right now, the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers have to battle it out for the NFC's trip to the Super Bowl and the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs are duking it out for the AFC's berth.

Are NFL referees full-time employees in the league?

The straight answer is no. They are still considered part-time NFL employees, though there has been a clamor to make the change.

Aaron Rodgers was among the most notable athletes to voice his support for the change. In a customary Tuesday appearance on the Pat McAfee Show in October, Rodgers said:

"I think that it would probably help to have all of them full time. I think an increase in pay is a really important part of our game. We're a billion-dollar industry. I think those men and women deserve to be paid appropriately where they can make this their full-time gig."

Rodgers added that NFL referees have a tough job to do, considering they need to make calls in real-time. The scrutiny that comes with those calls needs to also be considered when it comes to making them full-time employees with more pay.