I am not a big football fan, but it was just on the local Las Vegas news that the NFL has offically banned showing the Super Bowl for public gatherings on screens larger than 55".
The Orleans hotel had planned a huge party using one of their Jumbo-trons…it was cancelled. The Aladdin hotel had the same plans - also cancelled. Lots of casinos are now simply going to have a bunch of smaller plasma screens set up in ballrooms.
Still…it was also announced on the local news that more people will be in Las Vegas watching the Super Bowl (estimated 300,000 visitors here this weekend) than will actually be at the Super Bowl. Maybe that is why they are getting so pissed off about it?
I doubt that’s why they’re pissed. The Superbowl is definitely sold out. They’re not letting seats go unfilled because people want to watch the game in Vegas.
It is all over the news again tonight. Nobody knows why they are doing this, but sure enough, the casinos are scrambling to set up plasma tv’s (most fall under the 55" ruling).
What I don’t understand is how a regularly broadcast show, seen pretty much world-wide, can be regulated by the NFL and told it cannot be shown on a big screen?
If you could make a case (and it would not be too easy IMO, but that’s another matter) that people were going to the casino/hotel/whatever specifically to watch the game, and ended up buying something, then the casino, by vrtiue of also having marketed the “we’ll be showing the Super Bowl” aspect of their establishment, has thereby profited from it without paying for the rights, as it were. It’s like if I show a movie on my television (like on basic cable) and then charge people to watch it in my house.
My guess as to why action is actually being taken this time is mostly because of the commercials; I have no doubt that similar actions have been taken by Vegas (and other) enterprises before, but I don’t recall (though my memory may certainly be incomplete here) seeing any commercials for “come watch the Super Bowl in Vegas”.
Trust me, if it were only a matter of “paying for the rights” there wouldn’t be a casino in town that wouldn’t fork over the bucks…geez, they said there have already been over $74 million bet on the game at the sports books, and that was on the 5 PM Saturday newscast…who knows what will have been bet by tomorrow at 3:00 PM.
Vegas was charging people money to watch a broadcast that was available for free. It’s like what 'punha said, except they were profiting directly by charging like $35 admission to watch it on a theater screen.