TVSquad

That news makes me even happier that I could not care less about professional football.

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You're right in saying that the advertisers don't lose money, but the NFL actually does. Instead of all those party-goers watching on their own TVs, they'll all be watching on one. That makes the ratings drop, and, therefore, the NFL can't charge as much for advertising.

Now, that having been said, I still find this to be absolutely ridiculous. The NFL should be ashamed of itself, but, as usual, they'll get away with it and still have the most popular sport in America.

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So if I have a 56" Samsung DLP, it's illegal for me to have friends over to watch the Super Bowl? Guess we'll have to watch on my sister's 20" NEC, just like we did Super Bowl XXX.

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Wouldn't they only lose ratings "technically" if some of those Church viewers were a selected Nielsen family?

If none are, I'd think the Nielsen ratings would be the same since the way I understand it, ratings are statistically projected based on the selected Nielsen family viewing numbers.

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Sorry Stephen but I'm not buying that at all. The teams playing in the Super Bowl have more of an effect on the rating than where people are watching. And I'm sure there were Super Bowl parties last year and the game was still the highest rated in 10 years. Besides, it's not like all of those people have Neilsen boxes they're not using. And the ad rate has gone up every year for the past 5 years regardless of ratings. (The last drop was for SB 36 which was the first one after 9/11)

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According to our local paper (I live in Indiana), the church was charging a $10 admission fee. Not that it really makes that much difference.

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who cares what the NFL says? does anyone really believe they are gong to have "NFL cops" running around checking up on people and their parties, tape measure in hand?? people please! have your damn party, invite anyone and everyone you want and watch it on the biggest damn TV you can find. they will never know!!

question authority

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The church was charging admission. I completely understand the NFL intervening there. Someone else was making a profit on their product, and it doesn't matter if it was a church. Cool with me.

But the TV size thing? I don't get that. I dunno, maybe they're using subliminals and anything above a 55" you can see them more easily and they don't want to get caught. Other than that, I don't get it... but I'm going to go google and find the answer.

And for the records, the Bears by 6. Though if I'm wrong, I'll be happy for Manning for finally getting the ring his career deserves.

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In a perfect world for the NFL, football fans would all be friendless loners.

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Well thank god im here in Denmark.. we are about 8 guys seeing at my house.. The only thing i can complain about is that by the end of the game it will be about 5-6 in the moring but what do i care.. i'll be shitfaced at that point! :D

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Wow. What upstanding, theologically educated folks. I believe both testaments have some sections about needless desecration of worshipping areas, even if location matters less than feeling.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wrtv/20070203/lo_wrtv/10916537

Good gawd.

Anyway, ignoring ratings for a moment, if they allow such things, every local affiliate effectively has bargaining pressure to raise costs on consumers or renegotiate contracts with the National Football League. It's wholly legitimate, and every league does it.

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who the hell cares, i got a 57" HDTV and i got a ot of people coming over. it is a little overboard to actually release a press statement, but i just think this is stupid. the damn new comish is startin to be a jack-ass.

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If you had read the article, you would have found out the church dropped the admission fee but that still didn't satisfy the NFL. To me this (along with the NHL on VERSUS and DirecTV's exclusive licensing of NFL and MLB PPV packages) is just another example of the pro sports leagues' desire for cash over fans, no matter how ridiculous the means.

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So, that's why Circuit City, Best Buy and Amazon are not saying explicitly "For SuperBowl KLI, buy the biggest TVs we offer!"? I don't know about this, guys. In all honesty, the NFL has a weak legal claim to this so-called protection. On the "charging admission" front, I can see a legit argument, but on the TV size-limit, they are simply OUT OF THEIR MINDS!

Well, here's a little site that makes me laugh, in a good way, not like how Goodell and the NFL make me laugh, which is through tears of pain:

http://thejacksack.blogspot.com

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Why could'nt the NFL intervene with BARS CHARGING FOR ALCOHOL during the Superbowl - come on, give us something that we can use for crying out loud!

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I think that the NFL is very protective of the rights of the Super Bowl that they don't want the giant-screen parties to become too excessive. If it's bigger than the screens at the stadium, they get concerned. I've noticed more giant screen Super Bowl parties in the past 5 years, especially at various sports bars. Before 2002, most everyone watched it at home. Now, with the obsession with flat screen TVs that save a lot of space instead of big boxy cathode ray tube TVs, people want to don those big parties more.

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Why is this even an issue up for concern? This is the worst example of corporate greed that I have seen well since the last example of corporate greed. The Super Bowl is the highest rated television event every single year. You have more eyes on that screen during that football game than any state of the union address(not that I blame anyone for skipping most of the last 6), any santa monica freeway high speed chase(or low speed), or any media hyped advertising campaign sorry I mean bomb hoax (c'mon Boston lets get real it looks like a handmade LiteBrite). They know that the commercials are going to be not only watched but recorded and judged... some people don't even watch the game at this point. Peyton Manning finally making it to the Super Bowl... outside of Indy who cares? Rex Grossman sucks... he's the weak link? Who outside of Chicago cares? If these teams go out and put on a defensive standoff the game becomes worthless. So how do I survive the possible mundanity of a crappy football game... that's easy... I go to a big Super Bowl Party. Custom Built HD Projection... I've seen this thing in action and it's gotta be a 70-75 ft. screen @ 1080i... but I can't provide the friend's name or location because Elliot Ness might show up and have a "raid". I'm going to go to my big projection screen party, I'm going to enjoy the game with friends, enjoy good food and watch a football game I don't really care about. I'm going to watch all the commercials except for the movie trailers because they always give too much away... (w/ exception of the Matrix commercial in '99). I'm not going to buy a single item from any of the advertisers that I wasn't going to buy already... and maybe just maybe we can hope that all the neison family ratings boxes all malfunction at the same time as a wonderful reward to all the good will the NFL is passing around....

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According to Quizlaw (http://www.quizlaw.com/blog/well_i_guess_we_know_who_the_l.php) there is an "unless",

"unless it is being shown in a sports bar or other establishment where showing NFL games is a weekly custom."

So, since most people watch NFL games during the week on their 55"+ TV in their home, they are ok to have a Super Bowl(TM) party. This "rule" was just to prevent a *church* from showing the game.

So all of you planning on throwing a party to watch on your 55"+ don't worry, as long as you watched at least one game a week on it this season (give or take, no one is auditing) your fine.

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