« Cheap, romantic, or cheaply romantic? | Main | You know you want to say it »
February 02, 2007
An apt name
Every day that goes by adds another reason to why "NFL" actually stands for No Fun League. Here's a smattering of cynical things the NFL has done recently. First, we have this:
The NFL has nixed a church's plans to use a wall projector to show the Colts-Bears Super Bowl game, saying it would violate copyright laws.
NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church's "Super Bowl Bash" on the church Web site last week and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said.
Initially, the league objected to the church's plan to charge a fee to attend and that the church used the license-protected words "Super Bowl" in its promotions.
Pastor John D. Newland said he told the NFL his church would not charge anyone and that it would drop the use of the forbidden words.
But the NFL objected to the church's plans to use a projector to show the game, saying the law limits it to one TV no bigger than 55 inches.
Okay, so the NFL says no to churches. What else could they ix-nay? Oh yes, a large scale viewing party at Soldier Field:
The NFL has quashed plans by the Chicago Park District to open Solider Field on Super Bowl Sunday and show the Bears-Colts game on giant screens in the stadium as a charity fund-raiser.
The Chicago Tribune reported that city officials contacted the NFL to see whether they could charge fans a "nominal fee" to enter and see the telecast from Miami. The park district owns and operates Soldier Field.
"Our thought was that there are people who can't afford a Super Bowl ticket and that this would have been a great thing for Chicago fans," park district spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner said.
However, I love the insidious reason given for deep sixing these parties:
But the NFL said no, saying a large gathering would take away from the number of viewers in homes watching the telecast, thus affecting the TV rating (Nielsen Media Research's figures don't include viewers in public places).
"It's prohibited," said Greg Aiello, the NFL's vice president of public relations. "Mass out-of-home viewing is not permitted by our television contracts."
You would think that if there is one sports league that does not have to worry about television ratings, it's the National Football League. Supposing that a few thousand people go to these things to watch the Super Bowl - a term, by the way, the NFL might sue your ass for using (or at least send a stern cease-and-desist letter) - the TV rating for the Super Bowl might drop from, say, a 41.5 to a 41.4. Then, the NFL can only charge $2,000,000 for a TV ad instead of $2,100,000.
But what can we, as fans and lovers of justice, do? Boycott the NFL until they become less loathsome? That train disappeared right around the time Bud Bowl 7 premiered.
Lastly, other people can jump on the litigious NFL bandwagon. Heinz is at odds with Red Gold Ketchup, in a dispute that only could happen in the cutthroat world of ketchup sponsorship:
Ketchup giant H.J. Heinz Co. is seeing red over a smaller Indiana ketchup maker’s use of the term “red zone.”
Heinz partners with the Pittsburgh Steelers and three other NFL teams to make charity donations whenever the home team gets past the opponent’s 20-yard line – the so-called red zone.
Heinz claims Elwood-based Red Gold Inc.’s “Red Gold Red Zone” program is too similar to its “Heinz Red Zone” program. The Red Gold program donates to charity when the Indianapolis Colts enter the red zone.
Heinz has about 60 percent of the ketchup market, while Red Gold has less than 1 percent. The food giant sent the Colts a cease-and-desist letter about a year ago and is pursuing trademark registration of the term “Heinz Red Zone” in the context of entertainment purposes at sporting events, Heinz spokesman Robin Teets said.
entry no. 737
Posted by oz115 at February 2, 2007 10:35 PM