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Part of hte problem is that the courts have ruled that lack of commitment to protecting a trademark is the path to giving up the trademark (that's how Bill Watterson lost control of Calvin and Hobbes merch). So if the NFL turns too many blind eyes to church groups they could lose their ability to keep movie theaters from charging to watch the game on the super large screen (which is really the kind of thing they want to prevent). And all their enforcement is based on combining factors, the primary two to avoid are charging (for admission or additional services) and a large screen. You can invite friends over to watch it on your giant TV but don't charge them. They give a special exemption for "normal" sports venues (bars), but that's because they pre-established tradition and it's doubtful anybody would use sports bars as leverage against the NFLs control of their trademark.

Some of that is understandable....but part of the issue involves use of public airwaves. If this were distributed in private channels...encrypted signals....DVD.....pay-per-view....cable then that is one thing. Broadcast over the open broadcast frequencies and trying to restrict at the point of consumption is bothersome to me. It sets precedent in regard to other "image ownership". Networks also own their news images....the DNC owns its convention images....etc.

There still needs to be ability to control your own product....but I think that you should have considerably less ability to restrict when broadcast in the open over publicly owned airwaves receivable by anybody's private property.

I wont even begin to get into restricting tail-gating a mile from the stadium.

But it's still the broadcast of a trademarked copyrighted program. The NFL still owns the show, even if it is broadcast over the air. Networks do own their news images, and the RNC does own its convention images.

Understand what's really being restricted here. They aren't saying people at the church can't watch the game, they aren't even saying they can't watch the game on a big TV, they're saying the church can't specifically advertise a Superbowl (trademarked name) party with the intent to charge people (gaining revenue) to watch the game (copyrighted content) on a big TV (making the whole thing desirable to consumers). There's a lot of layers to this, remove one or two (like don't advertise the SB and don't charge) and they're probably OK. Also remember the church sought out NFL permission, when you seek permission you are agreeing to abide by their rules, the NFL established these rules a while ago (there's one or two of these stories every year, though they don't usually involve a church group) and everybody that matches these conditions gets a no.