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Just don't host your Super Bowl party in a Church....

I don't know where you're planning to spend Super Bowl Sunday, and with whom, but it obviously won't be a church.

Citing copyright laws, the NFL has cracked down on churches showing the big game to parishioners on anything larger than a 55-inch scheme. Immanuel Bible Church in Washington DC is among those who have felt compelled to end long traditions of such parties by the league's insistence on rigid adherence to antiquated copyright rules.

From Privacy Maven (via other sources):

NFL communications vice president Brian McCarthy said ... the league is following decades-old federal copyright law.

“We have absolutely no objection to churches and others hosting Super Bowl parties,” he said. “We’ve never stopped a church from doing anything like this, as long as they aren’t trying to attract 400 or 500 people.”

While a free church event of that size might seem harmless, he said thousands of such non-commercial showings would significantly reduce network TV ratings, and thus cut the ad revenue on which Fox and the NFL are counting — an estimated $275 million for Sunday’s game.


And these are the guys that the US Congress gave an anti-trust exemption....

Here's the point: I have no problem with the NFL making $275 million or even a Billion dollars on the Super Bowl (most of which they lose back on the Pro Bowl, anyway, since nobody watches).

But now the league is getting to be like Disney, which aggressively sues the butt off home day-care providers with the temerity to paint images of Mickey or Donald on their walls.
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