Why would anyone go to a church to watch the game? They don't serve beer

@laserjobs: Because you can't drink the blood of Christ at a bar.

@laserjobs: Depends on the church I know one church that throws an awesome alcohol soaked Greek Fest every year.

A] This would have been a better decision to make a month ago, NFL.

B] Meg, why did you have to pick such a mean picture for this post? It's making me want to cry.

The Patriots should go to church. They have a lot of cheating to confess.

@laserjobs: Depends on the Church - I went to a Jesuit college, and the Jesuits drank more than anyone I've ever seen.

Not all religions and denominations have issues with alcohol.

@Falconfire: Yeah... Church potlucks, one of the parishoners brings a cooler of New Belgium brews to our Catholic church. It's only a problem is you "over-indulge."

@laserjobs: It depends on how close the church members are. If like many midwest churches the members are very close (as in, they talk to eachother and organize events outside church), it can be a very enjoyable party.

@Falconfire: Some expect you to drink.

"One in whose home wine does not flow like water is not blessed."

Trying to buy some good PR after destroying all of the evidence from Spygate.

Ok you guys I get the point, can I get a lap dance at church too?

"In response, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) proposed legislation that would allow houses of worship to show football games on big-screen televisions..."

We need legislation for this? This is why our government is so ridiculous.

@laserjobs: Sure, but the confessionary is too small and the pews are too wide.

Notice how they waited until AFTER it mattered? Now no one cares.

But you still can't *call* it a SuperBowl party or they'll still sic their lawyers on you. In fact I'm probably about to be sued just for mentioning it.

Sigh. More caving to religion.

What was the NFL concerned about? That people would discover they like church more than attending games? I would think there would be a greater threat in that regard with sports bars. (And what about all the local teamster halls, knights of columbus, rotary clubs, etc -- they are violating some copyright law by tuning into a football game?) Stupid

Props to Arlen for the "houses of worship." Non christians like football, too, y'know.

@descend: If the NFL holds the line they're being asshats about their copyright, and if they concede they're "caving to religion". Guess some people can't win, can't they?

@laserjobs: You've obviously never attended a Lutheran church in Wisconsin

@laserjobs: Not everyone who watches is 21 or over. When I was a kid, the church youth group Super Bowl parties were pretty fun.

Now they decide. AFTER the Superbowl. Jerks.
@laserjobs: Yeah, but I bet there's a bunch of people that SAY drinking is bad publicly, but get ripped privately...

A lot of churches host a super bowl party as a more family-friendly alternative.
The problem started in 2007 when a fairly large church (Fall Creek Baptist) advertised a Super Bowl party and was going to charge a fee - they were also going to broadcast it on a 12 foot wide screen. Not a typical church gathering.

Many churches got nervous and canceled, or like my church, resized our screen to fit within the 55" rule.

@evslin:

I never thought the NFL was being "asshats" in the first place, but what bothers me is that this exemption is for mysticism only. Why should other non-profit community groups be excluded?

@laserjobs: only the good ones.

I never understood why they didn't want to allow the churches to do this. Were the churches profiting somehow?

"caving to religion" - give me a break! This isn't a religous argument. It's a group of people coming together at a function that most of them would want to watch anyway. They are not going to hang out at the smoke-filled bar with a bunch of loud-mouthed strangers, so this is a great alternative. The NFL's rules are stupid anyway - they make money on the advertisers, not the place where you watch it. Whether the people are watching it in 50 different homes, or all watching it at some common place, how does it matter?

mysticism - ha, obviously this person hasn't studied mysticism or Christianity in any depth to say such an ignorant thing.

@ericole: that is true, about the ad money. They don't make any money from the viewers at home, why should they make money from people watching at a not for profit place.

As far as churches charging a fee, unless it's for a group of their members wanting to use part of the church and renting space like you would for the a wedding, i don't think the church should be able to make money off the game itself.

@ericole: The problem is that they are publicly exempting churches from the rule. However, if I invite 10 people over to watch the superbowl on my projector, at my house, I would be in violation of the rule. Most likely they would never find out about me inviting people over, but it's still against their rules. I think the exemption should be something more like, any group may watch the superbowl on any size screen as long as they are not being charged an admission fee to watch. Simply stating that churches may do what no one else can is "caving to religion".

"Remember the sabbath and keep it.... Oooh look, the game is on."

@stacye: only holds true for games played between sundown Friday night through sundown Saturday night - that is the Sabbath that Jesus Christ kept Himself; I don't see why pseudoXians think they can "change the laws".

As for this ruling, I can see this privilege being abused (i.e. a collection plate getting passed around to help 'defray' costs) so I'm kinda surprised to see the NFL reverse its prior position.

In other news... Houses of Worship around the globe donated to NFL sponsored charities. The proceed are expected to grease the wheels with the NFL Players assoc. to allow greater flexibility in Houses of Worship ability to congregate to watch a football game. More at 11:00pm!

Isn't this a *federal law*? How nice of the NFL to graciously grant an exception to the law like that. (I also like the link to the previous post, which refers to the NFL's "ruling".) If that doesn't prove our laws are just the whims of large corporations, I don't know what does.

@joemono: Blood of Christ--- hrm, let's go equal parts tanic red wine and irish creme. Order it at a bar. No church necessary.

@BayStateDarren: Anti-AFC bias.

"The league has said that organizations that host public viewings of its games on television screens larger than 55 inches violate its copyright"

The league can say whatever the hell they want - they don't determine the copyright law in this country, and they can't take away my fair use rights.

Unfortunately, the MPAA lobbyists do and can.

@Meg: great picture >:D

I know plenty of people that projected the game on the outer wall of their house during mardi gras, effectively making it one of the largest "public" exhibitions ever.

The bureaucrats at the NFL are starting to make the Recording Industry Ass. of America look positively civil.

I was wondering why a fried chicken place would want to host super bowl parties...

@samurailynn:

We need legislation for this? This is why our government is so ridiculous.

Unfortunately, the US. Because there is already federal law that says just how many inches wide a TV can be before it's a copyright violation to show things on it in public, we do... It's ridiculous, sure, but it ridiculousness to repair earlier ridiculousness.
Here's hoping the legislation actually passes.

Not sure if it's correct, but my understanding of the NFL's actual reason for protest was that they would be missing potential data points from Nielson viewers who may have decided to watch the game at a church instead of their living room. And goodness we can't have them missing out on that last $100,000 per second for commercial rates...

Technically, video projectors aren't televisions.

Superbowl at the drive in, anyone?

@rhombopteryx:

Because there is already federal law that says just how many inches wide a TV can be before it's a copyright violation to show things on it in public, we do...

Really? Got a citation for that?

i didn't watch the thing at all...i'm a football fan, but not a plastic nfl fan.....i don't much care for the computer controlled games....i liked the old nfl when they played mostle cause they liked thte game...they played on dirt ,outside and they played tough....not too many of todays players could play under the old ways.....i still like to watch small college and high school football.....

@scoosdad: [www.law.cornell.edu]

See section 5.B.i.II