New Media "Explosion" Puts Media And Pro Sports At Odds
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Leagues Looking To Place Restrictions
On New Media's Sports Coverage |
The explosion of new media, "especially with regard to advertising income, has made competitors out of two traditional allies -- news media and professional sports," according to Tim Arango of the N.Y. TIMES. At the "heart of the issue ... is a simple question: Who owns sports coverage?" One NHL exec said that the situation is "volatile, and that he thought the issue would eventually have to be resolved by the Supreme Court." MLB recently issued new rules "limiting how the press can use photographs and audio and video clips on Web sites," and many organizations and publications including Hearst, Gannett and SI "have refused to go along with the new rules." League officials argue that too much video and audio on a newspaper's Web site "could infringe on rights holders -- the broadcasters who pay millions of dollars to carry live games." NFL Senior VP/Business Affairs Frank Hawkins, whose league restricts nongame audio and video clips to 45 seconds, said that the leagues "are not controlling what is said in the press." Hawkins: "There is no prior restraint. We don't pull credentials if we don't like what someone writes." APSE President and K.C. Star Managing Editor for Sports and Features Mike Fannin said that the dispute was the "result of traditional news organizations redefining themselves in a changing technological environment." MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy: "I'm all for selling newspapers and magazines. What I'm not for is them branching off in to other enterprises" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/21).
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| Garber Launches Blog On MLS Web Site |
NCAA: Arango writes coverage limitation also is a "hot issue in athletics at the college level." The NCAA "issued new guidelines this year: in women's water polo, bloggers are allowed three posts a quarter and one at halftime." In fencing or bowling, 10 posts are allowed for each day or session. APSE Legal Affairs Committee Chair and Orlando Sentinel Sports Projects Editor John Cherwa: "I think we're hitting the ridiculous button here. We're getting tired of everyone trying to tell us how to do our business" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/21).
MLS BLOG: MLS Commissioner Don Garber Friday launched a blog on MLSnet.com entitled, "The Commissioner Speaks." Garber, in his first entry, wrote of the Dynamo's quest for a new soccer-specific stadium in Houston, "As you can imagine, I was very surprised that Mayor [Bill] White in Houston released to the media a letter I sent to the Dynamo ownership group. The letter stated my concerns with the lack of progress with the team's discussion with the city regarding a stadium partnership. And anyone who read the letter knows, I was not threatening the Mayor in any way" (MLSNET.com, 4/18).
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