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BobLfoot

Boycott the Super Bowl?

12 posts in this topic

Yes it is true. A non-profit organization trying to provide a place for children and families to view the game as a community has been shut down. And my local church has had to follow suit because our screen is 10 ft by 25 ft and larger than 55 inches. Yet, those making a profit {bars, strip clubs, etc} can continue to show the game. I will not be watching this years game or supporting it's advertisers is all I can say.

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I read a little about this, Bob, and while I'm appalled by the NFL apparently asserting it's broadcast license rights against churches and community groups, I'm very vague on the applicable law. I've read it asserted that the NFL "licenses it's broadcasts for individual use". I'm accustomed to seeing that at the end of baseball games in the broadcast credits: "may not be reproduced or rebroadcast without the written consent of Major League Baseball....." But where this thing about 55" televisions or the number of people who can watch comes from, I have zero idea. If the NFL has a deal with their broadcasters, I would think that contract ends when the signal goes out the antenna. The pastor at St. John's across from the Colts stadium is a huge Colts fan and rings the church bells when they win. I wonder what he thinks about this ? If it were me, I'd go ahead and have a no-charge Super Bowl party at the church and invite the NFL lawyers to go ahead and sue me. Edited by Ken Roach

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Thanks for the link Bob. I had not heard anything like this. I dropped by NFL.com and left a comment. I was in Chicago at a Fanuc training class a couple weeks ago. We went to ESPN zone to watch the colts play and had to spend $20 hr per person to sit at the big screen. Im not sure how they managed it but a movie theater In Columbus In. showed that game for free on the big screen. Bob

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I predict that boycotting the superbowl will have about as much economic effect on the NFL as the "no pumping gas on tuesday" boycott had on the oil industry :)

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I urge any non-profit group, community center, church, etc. that plans to show the game on a wide-screen TV to go ahead and do it. I for one will contribute to a legal defense fund if the NFL decides to sue. The NFL would be incredibly stupid if it decided to start suing non-profits for showing the game. The negative publicity would be a black eye for years. On the other hand, non-profits need to be careful about using the Super Bowl as a means of promoting their cause. There is a point where you stop providing a community service and begin to advertise. It's not a sharply defined line and it's certainly subject to interpretation, but it exists.

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Hmm....I didn't know the MPAA and RIAA were running the NFL these days.

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That is awful I am not a big football fan anymore. But I guess that shows what this old world is becoming.

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I'm definitely not trying to take the NFL's side on this, but it should be noted that in the article about the church televising the superbowl, it is said that the church wanted to CHARGE ADMISSION for people to see the game there! Yeah, I assume the profits would go to a good cause, but I can certainly see how the NFL wouldn't want some other entity profiting from their broadcast.

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I understand the idea the NFL had here. Limit viewing to get people to go to the bowl, but this is over the top. What I really do not understand is their legal grounds for this. How can they limit what size screen you watch it on. What if you owned an old Drive In and you decided to project it on one of those old screens. Its your screen, Its your reciever that caught the signal. How can they decide what you project it on. Well whatever. I had to ask today who was playing in the Super Bowl. That is how much I really care about those guys.

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Not defending the nfl on this one either. But I have a good friend who owns a resturant and bar here in town. A few of his buddies and I were ragging on him to have Monday night football up on the big projector. He said that he couldn't do it because he would have to pay the NFL a "fee" to brodcast their stuff on that big of a screen. But it can be watched on the smaller 27". Makes no sense to me.

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Someone riddle me this. Why allow a bar/restaurant to pay a fee and show the game and not give a church the same opportunity? Doesn't that fit the definition of discrimination on the basis of religion. Just musing?

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I think the church does have the same opportunity to pay for the game if they want to. I can also see why the NFL would take action when it's policies about copyrighted materials are violated, particularly if the church is charging admission (why not separately ask for donations). I can also see why the NFL would allow organizations to show their content in public on smaller TVs free of charge. Showing the Superbowl on big screens brings in business to the organization, and is thus worth something to them. Why not charge for something THAT DOES COST THE NFL MONEY TO PRODUCE? The idea of more people breaking the law to make it acceptable is ridiculous! Should we all be allowed to steal pay per view movies because they're sent over the cable lines where we subscribe for basic service? The defense that the NFL would get a "black eye" in terms of publicity if it tried to enforce its legal right is even worse. Lobby for it! Contact the NFL or your local congressman (if you happen to disagree with copyrights). We have a legal process where you can make a difference. That said, I think the NFL's policy is ridiculous. They've chosen to support those who pay them for viewing rights at the expense of non-profits, who most (myself included) agree should be allowed. At this point they could make a very positive PR move to allow churches and other non-profits to view their broadcasts without charging. As an aside, I heard on the radio that the policy is that organizations that "An exception is made for sports bars and other businesses that show televised sports as a part of their everyday operations."I'm not sure how this applies to Church youth groups that may have been playing football games regularly. Edited by Nathan

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