NFL: Sports bars in, churches out

After reading these stories you may want to let the NFL know your thoughts.

The thousands of churches across the country that want to host Super Bowl parties Sunday night had better not pull out big-screen TVs, or they could face the wrath of NFL attorneys.

The NFL is telling Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis that the church's plans to use a wall projector to show the game at a party for church members and guests would violate copyright laws.

NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek's "Super Bowl Bash" on the church Web site last week and sent pastor John D. Newland a letter -- via FedEx overnight -- demanding the party be canceled.

Initially, the league objected to the church's plan to charge partygoers a fee to attend and that the church used the license-protected words "Super Bowl" in its promotions.

Newland told the NFL his church would not charge partygoers -- the fee had been intended only to pay for snacks -- and that it would drop the use of the forbidden words.

But the NFL wouldn't bite. It objected to the church's plans to use a projector to show the game on what effectively was a 12-foot-wide screen. It said the law limits the church to one TV no bigger than 55 inches.

The league even took exception to the church's plan to influence nonmembers with a video highlighting the Christian testimonies of Colts coach Tony Dungy and Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith.

"While this may be a noble message," NFL assistant counsel Rachel L. Margolies wrote in a follow-up e-mail, "we are consistent in refusing the use of our game broadcasts in connection with events that promote a message, no matter the content."

NFL PARTY RULES

For groups that want to host Super Bowl parties -- other than sports bars and businesses that normally show televised sports -- here are rules the NFL says must be followed:

• No admission fees (even to pay for snacks).

• Only one television (55 inches or smaller).

• No use of the words "Super Bowl" in promotional materials.

• No exhibition of the game in connection with events "that promote a message."

Source: NFL

Read more of this story on Indy Star.

The following is from Baptist Press.

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--The National Football League has told a Southern Baptist church in Indianapolis it will run afoul of federal copyright law if it hosts a Super Bowl party this Sunday, even though the league makes a major exception for such large-scale viewings at sports bars.

Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis was one of probably thousands of churches across the nation scheduled to host a party this Sunday evening as part of an outreach to the congregation and the community.

But now, the church -- whose hometown Colts will play the Chicago Bears -- has canceled the event under pressure from the NFL, which says large-group events can show the Super Bowl on a TV no larger than 55 inches wide. The church had planned on showing the game on a projector that would have resulted in a 12-foot screen. A 55-inch screen would be too small for the hundreds that were planning on attending. NFL policy also prohibits the use of multiple televisions. The league even said the church legally couldn't show a video highlighting the Christian testimonies of Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy and Chicago coach Lovie Smith.

Read more of this story on Baptist Press.