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How difficult is it to obtain the rights to show sporting events (baseball, football, etc.) and pay-per-view events (UFC, boxing, wrestling, etc.)? I have heard that you can show them for free like pubs do to avoid having to pay for the rights but have also heard that it is a grey area that can still get you in trouble since television broadcasting and digital presentation of television broadcasting don't mix. Any helpful info on this subject will be more than welcome.

Thank you.

As far as the NFL goes-- you can show it in a theater as long as you regularly serve food and drink like a restaurant/bar. I know this because we got in trouble for showing MNF and had to stop doing it. We served food and drink on Mondays, but being a restaurant/bar was not our primary function. A theater pub like Alamo Drafthouse or McMenamins can do it, but a regular theater cannot. And the NFL takes it very seriously.

Thank you Busy Bee. As far as the NFL went, that was exactly what I needed to know. That is for showing it for free, right? Do you know if it is the same for MLB?

I'm sure it is because they cited copyright law in their cease and desist letter and not some other rules of their own. I think the copyright law states that you can't "exhibit" copyrighted content on a television larger than 51". There is an exception in place for restaurants to show it on larger displays as, basically, background entertainment. I know that at the time we got called out, so did a bunch of churches that were doing MNF nights for their church members. We thought we were in compliance when we purchased a commercial license from DirecTV. Even though I do value and respect intellectual property rights, I find this all totally stupid. I don't understand what makes it okay for a restaurant that advertises MNF as a way to get people in the door to buy food, and not okay for a theater to do the exact same thing.

Any info on pay-per-view events...

Thank you.

I've seen theatres do things like "big pigskin game this Sunday" to promote SuperBowl. It is really easy to set up a google news alert and if you advertise or promote it anywhere it's lawyer city.