The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Coastal Community Church loves its annual Super Bowl Sunday party, complete with a big-picture projection of the game - way too big, by the NFL's standard.
Claiming copyright protection, the National Football League warns congregations against wide-screen showings of the game outside homes.
Coastal's annual party usually draws 100 or more people for food, games and the Super Bowl, seen on a 15-by-20-foot projection on the church's gym wall.
But after learning Friday that the NFL bans public showings on screens bigger than 55 inches, "we pulled the plug on our party," said the Rev. Hank Brooks, Coastal's senior pastor.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Friday that the league did not oppose church Super Bowl parties.
"Simply please do not charge admission... and show the game on televisions of the size you'd normally find in someone's home," he said.
Super Bowl church parties have been a cross-denominational staple nationwide for years. Organizers call the events a family-oriented, alcohol-free way of enjoying the game in a wholesome setting.
"It's a shame the NFL has put the clamps on that," Brooks said. "We don't want to break any law." He said Coastal might organize smaller Super Bowl house parties instead.
McCarthy said theaters, auditoriums and large public venues had been prohibited for years from showing NFL games.
He said big-screen showings could eat into television ratings and erode broadcasters' advertising rates.
"We have never gone into a church, never investigated a church," McCarthy said. "We aren't getting out our rulers to measure."
According to news accounts, the NFL warned Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis last year not to show the Super Bowl on a large auditorium screen. The congregation canceled its party.
But in Suffolk, the Super Bowl party at Open Door Church will go on as planned with the game projected on an 8-by-8-foot screen.
The Rev. Tony Peaks said the church hoped to dodge the NFL's wrath by calling the gathering a "Souper Bowl" party and asking guests to bring canned goods for its food bank.
Peaks dismissed the notion that the NFL was harmed by church game screenings or that congregations exploited the Super Bowl.
"The bars are making money - we're not making money," Peaks said of game screenings.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Friday that U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., a Baptist and former NFL quarterback, had written to the league's commissioner asking that worship centers be exempted from the ban if they do not charge admission to Super Bowl screenings.
Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com
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Um...Excuse me?
Everyone knows New England will win so why watch NY lose other than to see how bad they get beat.
AAAAAAHHHHHHH HAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAHAAAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Didn't your parents ever teach you not to go along with the crowd like a lost little lamb?
As John Madden likes to say: "That's why they play the games, folks."
By the way...for those of you who didn't watch the game that "Everyone knows New England will win"...Final Score: New England 14, New York 17.
The heck with the NFL
If they put it on pay per view, they'd lose so much money from fans and advertising they would go bust. Especially when you take into consideration the salaries they pay some of those so called players. I also wonder what they would think of the Guantanamo base showing it on a 20 foot screen? Or Camp Freedom in IRAQ doing the same thing? Maybe they would like to tell the armed forces to get bent on live TV as well? That would go over great with the public... I personally use a PC projection screen in my backyard to show it on a 12 foot screen. Works pretty well actually. Maybe they can come arrest me in my hottub while were watching this year.
chicksbeach
chicksbeach: The ban only relates to public viewing of the Super Bowl - not private ones in your home. You are free to watch the game as big as you can get it in your house.
Super bowl
No plans here to watch the Toilet bowl, I mean Super bowl. I have much better things to do with my time than watch more commercials than the game. Companies who has millions to spend for a 1 min. commericials. Everyone knows New England will win so why watch NY lose other than to see how bad they get beat.
Superbowl
I'am a huge giants fan,plan on watching the game on my 57" screen tv, but according to the NFL i can only watch the game on something 55" or smaller. If that is the case i guess most people in hampton rds will not be watching the game, because most people i talk to have a tv bigger than 55". Enjoy the game GO GIANTS!!!
The size apparently matters.
Who cares what size the viewing screen is as long as no money is being charged to view. The NFL is paid an astounding amount of money from advertisers to broadcast this game. Its not on pay/tv. Its going out in real time, complete with advertisements, which are pretty good too, incidentally. Sounds kind of lame to me, even though legally they are probably within their rights to set these parameters. Sadly I'll be watching it on my 19" TV. (not flat screen) sigh
I'm no lawyer
But I just read an Illinois law review article regarding "Public Display" of copyrighted material. It was actually centered around computer based transmission of copyrighted material that doesn't require a physical copy to be made but part of it concerns this issue.
Basically, the way I understand it is, once the NFL allows transmission over public airways, they lose control over how that transmission is used (displayed) by the public. By transmitting to the public, they are implicitly authorizing the public to use (display) that transmission however they wish as long as it's "real time": not a copy or re-transmission. I'm betting this is all bluster and the NFL doesn't have a leg to stand on legally. Which is why cinema cafe and other businesses ignore them. It's easier to pick on churches who can't afford fancy lawyers.
super bowl ban
People, please ,no church super bowl parties based on the size of the t.v. screen.If they aren't charging admission how is it any different than super bowl parties we all have in our homes.What's next?!There sure are a lot of petty, greedy people in the world ! GO GIANTS !!
I've never seen any thing like it...
Now the NFL want's to tell a church that they cannot put a bunch of people in a room to for some good clean fun. That they cannot watch the game on their own, church owned tv, as long as they do not charge admission, have a non drinking venue with less drunks on the road, and also a place for people in recovery still looking to party without alchol to go without the temptation of beer and liquor. A lot of churches would never even air the game due to the commercial's alone, but some have stepped out of the box, and recognized today's need's for today's people, and tryed to make an exception for single people, non-drinker's, married couple's, christian's, and alcoholic's in recovery. Shame on the NFL. This type of thing is what drives me to continue to turn my back on professional sport's. Has it slipped their mind who support's the team's. And, I agree, it is a violation of the constitution. Do it anyway.
Freedom of Press
As much as everyone thinks they are a legal eagle.....this is not a case of free press, it is a case of copyright infringement. NFL on TV is a product, and it is a very high valued product that is protected the same way as any other intellectual property. Everyone complaining should probably be counting their lucky stars we can watch this game for free at all. The NFL could easily pop the super bowl on pay per view and make a killing. You dont want to sell your work for less then its worth, or even for free, dont expect the NFL to either.