Super Bowl shouldn't be viewed on super screens

Unless you're in a sports bar, the NFL says large-screen viewing violates copyright law.

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: February 1, 2008 - 11:19 PM

You may be doing the Good Lord's work, but that won't matter as far as the NFL is concerned.

If any house of worship -- or nearly anyone else, for that matter -- intends to show Sunday's Super Bowl game on a large screen for a group of people, the league says you are violating its copyright.

That's news to the Rev. Mark Shockey of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Edina. St. Peter's has just such a gathering planned for Sunday, when it will project the Big Game on a 5- by 7-foot screen, Shockey said.

That's way larger than what the NFL allows. The league bans public exhibitions of its games on TV sets or screens larger than 55 inches because smaller sets limit the audience size.

"We have no objection to churches and others hosting Super Bowl parties as long as they ... show the game on a television of the type commonly used at home," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. "It is a matter of copyright law."

Large Super Bowl gatherings around big-screen sets outside of homes shrink TV ratings and can affect advertising revenue, McCarthy said. The section of copyright law giving the NFL protection over the content of its programming exempts sports bars, he said.

The issue came to a head last year after the NFL sent a letter to Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, warning the church not to show the Super Bowl on a giant video screen. For years, the church had held a Super Bowl party in its auditorium, attracting about 400 people and showing the game on a big screen usually reserved for hymn lyrics.

Other churches in the Twin Cities and elsewhere have Super Bowl viewing parties in the works, including St. Bonaventure Catholic Church in Bloomington, St. Mary's Orthodox Church in northeast Minneapolis and Plainview Church of Christ in southeastern Minnesota.

As for St. Peter's in Edina, Shockey said he was unaware of the restriction. "I think that would lead me to want to look into it a little more," he said. He's anticipating about 45 to 50 people for the party, which he described as "an excuse to have some snacks and enjoy the game together."

The Washington Post contributed to this report. Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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