Why is the NFL so strict about the Super Bowl?

Factual Questions
1

Apparently the NFL is really anal retentive about preventing anyone from using the phrase “Super Bowl” without permission, so all the electronics stores advertise sales for big screen TVs by urging you to buy your 60-inch “in time for the big game” and such nonsense. Any radio promotions for contests related to the Super Bowl also talk about “the big game” and so on.

Over the weekend I heard about the NFL giving some churches a hard time for trying to hold Super Bowl parties, with an NFL attorney even claiming that if a private person has a few people to his house to watch the game, he cannot have the game on more than one tv set in the house or on any screen bigger than 50 inches. Supposedly those infractions make it a “public viewing” or something that the NFL has to sanction.

Sounds like unenforceable nonsense to me, but I’m not really concerned with the legal details here. My question is this: Why would the NFL do anything to discourage people from talking about the Super Bowl, watching the Super Bowl, or promoting it for free? Wouldn’t they benefit if every electronics ad for weeks screamed “Buy your big screen in time for the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 4!” ?

And why do advertisers take this? If I paid $2 million for a 30-second spot (or whatever it really was) I’d be livid if the NFL did anything to discourage people from watching it. If a church wants to get 100 people together to watch my ad, more power to them.

So really, what is the NFL’s reasoning here?

2

They own the trademark on the term. They have to come down hard on any unauthorized use, lest they lose the trademark.

3

Advertisers spend hundreds of millions to be able to be official sponsors and use ‘superbowl’ to promote their products. The exclsuiveness = high price. If using ‘superbowl’ was easier, the exclusiveness wouldn’t be there and the high price wouldn’t come easy.

It is supply and demand: HUGE demand for the rights to the very rare privelage of using NFL logs and Superbowl references in ads. If the use of NFL logos and ‘superbowl’ isn’t so rare or hard to come by, then its got a much lower value because it has a higher supply.

The NFL controls the supply, driving up the cost and protecting the brand.

4

I think the screen limit size is 55 inches. There are two things in play here. One is that the NFL wants to make damn sure that the money machine called the Superbowl has no chance whatsoever of becoming common useage and losing the exclusive rights to the name. The second has to do with the ratings game. Ratings are calculated by the number of homes who have the game on at home. I assume that the number of TV’s is not used in the calculations. Therefore, the NFL loves people like me who had to watch the game all by themselves because it counts as much as 20 people sitting around together watching the same game in one house. They do make exceptions for sports bars. I assume this has to do with not pissing off all the beer makers who buy so many of the commercials, and also the practical reason of not wanting to get viewers mad.

The church in question was advertising it as a Superbowl party, and wanted to project the game onto a big screen. No projection tv’s are allowed.

5

I figured it all related to protecting the trademark and its value, but isn’t this self-defeating at some point? I can see coming down hard on unauthorized Super Bowl sweat shirts, but if people merely want to *refer * to the event in question, the event that you are so heavily promoting, why would you not enourage that? If I’m selling a book, a movie, a beer, or a brand of shoes, I’d be happy if people promoted it for free.
The Super Bowl seems unique in this aspect. American Idol doesn’t make everyone refer to it as “the big singing contest.”

And moving on to the legal question: Is this all just posturing by the NFL that can’t really be enforced, other than making someone’s life miserable until they give in?

If I want to have 20 friends to my house and watch the free Super Bowl over-the-air broadcast on three 65-inch projection tv sets, how could the NFL stop me? It’s free tv, and there’s no law saying what I can and can’t watch in my own home. (Let’s assume I’m not advertising it in any way as a Super Bowl party and not charging any kind of admission. I just said to some friends "C’mon over and watch the game Sunday.)

I realize they probably wouldn’t try to stop me because they’ve got bigger fish to fry, but their position apparently is that they could stop me if they wanted to. So lawyer types, is that true or not?

6

[QUOTE=AnnieChrist]
I figured it all related to protecting the trademark and its value, but isn’t this self-defeating at some point? I can see coming down hard on unauthorized Super Bowl sweat shirts, but if people merely want to *refer * to the event in question, the event that you are so heavily promoting, why would you not enourage that? If I’m selling a book, a movie, a beer, or a brand of shoes, I’d be happy if people promoted it for free.
The Super Bowl seems unique in this aspect. American Idol doesn’t make everyone refer to it as “the big singing contest.”

And moving on to the legal question: Is this all just posturing by the NFL that can’t really be enforced, other than making someone’s life miserable until they give in?

If I want to have 20 friends to my house and watch the free Super Bowl over-the-air broadcast on three 65-inch projection tv sets, how could the NFL stop me? It’s free tv, and there’s no law saying what I can and can’t watch in my own home. (Let’s assume I’m not advertising it in any way as a Super Bowl party and not charging any kind of admission. I just said to some friends "C’mon over and watch the game Sunday.)

I realize they probably wouldn’t try to stop me because they’ve got bigger fish to fry, but their position apparently is that they could stop me if they wanted to. So lawyer types, is that true or not?
[/QUOTE]
Actually, there probably IS a law; without bothering to look up the specifics, I am assuming it is US copyright law. No, it is NOT free television, and yes you ARE making an unauthorized copy when you do what you propose.

Keep in mind that there are two different issues in play here: trademark protection and copyright infringement. The churches were told not to do as they had planned primarily because of copyright infringement, though there were some minor trademark issues as well. But the need to refer to the game without actually using the term Super Bowl is a trademark protection issue.

The reason that they are hard-ass about it is that there is a provision in trademark law that forces owners of protected trademarks to be very aggressive about protecting the trademark. If they are not, they run the risk of a court considering in essence that they have abandoned their protection. This is why you see companies like Disney threatening legal action over the most innocent seeming violations. Yes, it’s a pretty stupid situation, but it is what it is.

Now, someone with more time on their hands can get into a really complex discussion of exactly what U. S. Code sections are in play, and what the relevant case law on the subject is. Trust me, it equals: NFL can, if it wants, keep you from doing what you proposed. :slight_smile:

7

[QUOTE=AnnieChrist]
I figured it all related to protecting the trademark and its value, but isn’t this self-defeating at some point? I can see coming down hard on unauthorized Super Bowl sweat shirts, but if people merely want to *refer * to the event in question, the event that you are so heavily promoting, why would you not enourage that? If I’m selling a book, a movie, a beer, or a brand of shoes, I’d be happy if people promoted it for free.
The Super Bowl seems unique in this aspect. American Idol doesn’t make everyone refer to it as “the big singing contest.”

And moving on to the legal question: Is this all just posturing by the NFL that can’t really be enforced, other than making someone’s life miserable until they give in?

If I want to have 20 friends to my house and watch the free Super Bowl over-the-air broadcast on three 65-inch projection tv sets, how could the NFL stop me? It’s free tv, and there’s no law saying what I can and can’t watch in my own home. (Let’s assume I’m not advertising it in any way as a Super Bowl party and not charging any kind of admission. I just said to some friends "C’mon over and watch the game Sunday.)

I realize they probably wouldn’t try to stop me because they’ve got bigger fish to fry, but their position apparently is that they could stop me if they wanted to. So lawyer types, is that true or not?
[/QUOTE]

That is considered “noncommercial” use and is perfectly OK. They have issues with people who use access to the game without permission to make money, with the notable exception of sports bars.

8

[QUOTE=Philster]
Advertisers spend hundreds of millions to be able to be official sponsors and use ‘superbowl’ to promote their products. The exclsuiveness = high price. If using ‘superbowl’ was easier, the exclusiveness wouldn’t be there and the high price wouldn’t come easy.
[/QUOTE]
♫ Nitpick ♫

The trademark is on “Super Bowl”, two words, proper case.

9

Is there somewhere that ‘anything greater than 55 inches is considered a public viewing’ is codified into US laws (rather than the NFL’s preferences)?

It seems like the sort of measurement that was a reasonable divider between normal home TVs and projection TVs or movie screens 10 years ago before 60 inch TVs became, if not common, at least not rare. Now there are a not insignificant number of people who have 60 inch TVs in the basement, which could conceivably mean only people who lived in the house could watch the game there and still have it be a violation of whatever law mentions the 55 inches.

And that would be weird.

10

[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq]
No, it is NOT free television, and yes you ARE making an unauthorized copy when you do what you propose.
[/QUOTE]

Really? That would be news to me. Please explain. Someone can broadcast an image over the airwaves and restrict how I watch it? You’re sending the signal to my home and I’m watching it. Where would you have the right to dictate how? I just don’t get it.

And how am I making an unauthorized copy? I’m not copying anything at all. The game is on the air, I’m using three televisions with three antenna to capture the signal. That’s the intended use of the broadcast and there is no copy of anything.

11

[QUOTE=AnnieChrist]
The Super Bowl seems unique in this aspect. American Idol doesn’t make everyone refer to it as “the big singing contest.”
[/QUOTE]
If there were to be an ad for “American Idol Microphones by Shure” the shit would hit the fan.

12

[QUOTE=CookingWithGas]
If there were to be an ad for “American Idol Microphones by Shure” the shit would hit the fan.
[/QUOTE]
Exactly.

The NFL isn’t stopping everyone from using the words “Super Bowl”. See?

Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl … Super Bowl …

Na-na-na can’t touch me!

(Because I didn’t make any money from it.)

13

So, are you telling me that I broke the law yesterday because I invited several of my family and friends (6 of them to be exact) to come to my home to share dinner and watch the Super Bowl on my 120 inch projection screen?

I would certainly like to see them try to prosecute me for that.

14

Did you sell them beer and food at a profit, using the term “Super Bowl” to market your event?

Edited to add:

If not, the NFL doesn’t care.

15

[QUOTE=CookingWithGas]
If there were to be an ad for “American Idol Microphones by Shure” the shit would hit the fan.
[/QUOTE]

As it should.

But don’t you see a difference between “American Idol Microphones by Shure” and “If you like watching American Idol, check it out on a big screen TV!”

Cute, Liberal. Thanks for the contribution.
But it doesn’t make any sense with the info in the thread so far. I haven’t said that the NFL doesn’t let Liberal say the words Super Bowl on a message board. I’ve made the point pretty clearly that I understand why the NFL would come down hard on someone who uses the Super Bowl name for profit, in effect stealing their property. But if Circuit City wants to use the Super Bowl as an example of why you sholud buy a big screen TV, what’s the harm? They’re not selling the “Samsung Super Bowl 50-inch DLP” model. They’re just reminding people that this event is coming up and hey, buy a new tv for it.

I’m staring to feel like John Kerry. No one appreciates the nuance in my arguments.

16

[QUOTE=Liberal]
Did you sell them beer and food at a profit, using the term “Super Bowl” to market your event?

Edited to add:

If not, the NFL doesn’t care.
[/QUOTE]

So your contention is that this whole thread is based on bad information? All this talk about the NFL claiming to have the right to restrict how I watch the Super Bowl in my own home – ***whether they exercise it or not against small players like myself who don’t make a profit and don’t market the event *** --is just bunk?

17

[QUOTE=AnnieChrist]
But if Circuit City wants to use the Super Bowl as an example of why you sholud buy a big screen TV, what’s the harm? They’re not selling the “Samsung Super Bowl 50-inch DLP” model. They’re just reminding people that this event is coming up and hey, buy a new tv for it.
[/QUOTE]
And thus using it to market their TVs, which they sell at a profit. That’s what’s prohibited.

No. Maybe you misunderstood DSYoung. That was all about copying it, wasn’t it? That’s a different aspect of the thing.

18

[QUOTE=Liberal]

No. Maybe you misunderstood DSYoung. That was all about copying it, wasn’t it? That’s a different aspect of the thing.
[/QUOTE]

FatBaldGuy mentioned that he had friends over to watch on his big screen and you said with some finality that if he didni’t make a profit or use the term to market the event, the NFL doesn’t care.

But the scenario I laid out was this: If I want to have 20 friends to my house and watch the free Super Bowl over-the-air broadcast on three 65-inch projection tv sets, how could the NFL stop me? It’s free tv, and there’s no law saying what I can and can’t watch in my own home. (Let’s assume I’m not advertising it in any way as a Super Bowl party and not charging any kind of admission. I just said to some friends "C’mon over and watch the game Sunday.)

And DSYoung replied that the NFL most definitely could stop me from doing so. So your response that it all hinges on making a profit and marketing the event doesn’t apply to my scenario, which DSYoung said could be prohibited. DSYoung did mention copying, which didn’t make any sense to me given the scenario.

19

I first learned about this issue after hearing a commercial for Dean’s Dip, which I think is a dip for potato chips and the like, the commercial had the line ‘That would be SUPER like a BOWL of Deans Dip’, where the words super and bowl were emphasized. This was a few years ago.

I thought the ability to get over the air broadcasts over public airwaves was a right for private non-commercial use?

20

I believe what the NFL most objected to was advertising like “The Super Bowl of Toilet Sales!” A thing like that not only cheapens the trademark, but also makes it seem generic.

[aside] You don’t hear much of anything called the “Cadillac of Whatever” anymore but I suppose the people of the Champagne region of France still puke to hear Miller High Life call itself the “Champagne of Beers.” [/aside]