Posted on 02/01/2008 5:12:40 AM PST by steve-b
For years, as many as 200 members of Immanuel Bible Church and their friends have gathered in the church's fellowship hall to watch the Super Bowl on its six-foot screen. The party featured hard hitting on the TV, plenty of food -- and prayer.
But this year, Immanuel's Super Bowl party is no more. After a crackdown by the National Football League on big-screen Super Bowl gatherings by churches, the Springfield church has sacked its event. Instead, church members will host parties in their homes.
Immanuel is among a number of churches in the Washington area and elsewhere that have been forced to use a new playbook to satisfy the NFL, which said that airing games at churches on large-screen TV sets violates the NFL copyright....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Our church committees sponsor all kinds of activities to bring families and members together. We’ve had talent shows, bible study, potluck suppers, Mother’s Day teas, family game nights, teen nights, craft workshops, fried chicken luncheons and featured speakers (on medicare and healthy eating), to name a few.
I don’t see the problem of bringing members and their friends together for fellowship in the church setting. My kids grew up feeling very comfortable at church. Admittedly the Sunday worship service was probably their favorite part when they were young, but it was a regular part of their youth. And if sitting through the service as a pre-requisite for the usher chicken dinner to follow, they were game.
When we had an Argentine pastor we all got interested in the World Cup. A sports themed event sounds like a great way to bring folks together. Since we don’t serve alcohol in our small church, we wouldn’t get too many of our folks who’d rather have more traditional “adult” refreshments. But I can see this working fine in other congregations where you could get a good sized group of participants who wouldn’t miss it. (Or where those restrictions aren’t a factor.)
It’s down the the beer companies. They’re a major advertiser, so the NFL doesn’t want to tick them off. If the Churches sold beer, they’d be exempt too.
In a related sports story about how greedy sports and MLB has become - they have increased the fee they charge little league teams to use their names and uniform styles.
Most uniforms for baseball are just t-shirts and pants however when you get to the little league majors (12 years old) the uniforms change to be more like the pros so, they demanded more money.
Last year we ended all baseball teams that have pro-names. Instead of Tigers and Dodgers we now have Irish and Trojans.
It was still $200.00 for 11-12 year old to play this spring.
I could understand the NFLs point if the game were PPV, but this is not PPV. My brothers church has done this for the last few years on their 10-12ft HD projector.
I think they pay significantly more for that privilege.
Bad publicity for the NFL, who have set themselves up as the bullies.
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
ridiculous. They need to get bad PR for this
See Post 65.
Have they gone after the bars in NY, SF and LA?
I think that the problem might be that some organizations, e.g. churches, Moose Lodge, etc., might allow donations or something like that.
The NFL never seems to miss an opportunity to act like idiots, alienating their own dedicated fans.
There is nothing wrong with having a Super Bowl party at a church. I would much rather hang out with my Christian friends and enjoy watching the game in a lively atmosphere that isn’t filled with smoke, raunchy talk and copious amounts of booze. Plus, a lot of churches use the halftime as a chance to share some type of message or devotional. Even if they don’t “hold church”, then there is also a good chance that a non-believer will be there to see that Christians DO enjoy life. After all, wasn’t the very first mention of Jesus’ ministry his attendance at a wedding?
Let’s not fuddy-duddy ourselves, Christians.
Finally lost interest around 2003. It’s more of a sensationalist media fiasco, than a sporting event nowdays.
What would Jesus do? Would he watch the Super Bowl? My guess is he probably would, but he might not be happy with the half-time show and some of the commercials and he would make that known.
Absurd.
bump
I think the NFL has in the past. This might be one of those “use it [the right] or lose it [the right]” things. The NFL might realize it’s bad press in the short-term, but necessary in the long-term. (I’m just speculating).
Oh {expletive}!!! My HDTV is 56 inches (truly, not just saying that because it is 1 inch bigger than the limit) - does that mean I can't invite friends over to watch? Shesh, if I ask them to bring munchies or a beverage to share does that make it charging for admission? Gads, I could be violating NFL policy...
Wait, here's something better. Hey NFL, you're my favorite thing to watch on TV, but don't get stupid. I could start spending Monday evenings online (FR), and extend those Saturday family hikes into all weekend long hikes. What will you do when your viewer numbers start to drop?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.