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Several theatres in our area are offering the Super Bowl on the screen with free admission. The ones I am familiar with serve food so I am sure they will do well with sales. Is anybody up to speed on the rules and legal issues of showing the game on the screen to the public? We do very little business when the game is on so I am thinking of ways to make it an event. Would appreciate ideas and input from all you smart guys that know the rules.

If you promote it too widely you risk a call from the NFL and especially if you charge. But theatres near us do this... generally they have a beer-wine lisc and do a food spread. M

What I am wondering is,what if you do get a call from the NFL? Is it and if so, what kind of violation is it? Is this like an ASCAP deal where you aren't supposed to use radio stations on your music on hold or as background music in your theatre before shows? Wondering where they draw the line. Sports bars all over America had the game on their TV's for patrons to watch.

Every game I've ever watched closes with a disclaimer which says none of the broadcast can be reproduced in whole or part without the expressed permission of the National Football League.

You can absolutely play the Super Bowl legally , it must be for free and you must have the cable or dish package designed for redistribution . Bars play it legally no different for theaters .

I've always heard and read that you can legally show it IF your screen is less than 55 inches.

A casino in Vegas got busted a few years ago for showing it on a huge screen.

Is the super bowl any different than any other NFL games? If not, then you ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT show it in a movie theater even if it is for free. IF you are a movie theater that regularly serves alcohol and food, then yes, you can. But if you are a regular movie theater that only sells regular concessions, then you're out of luck.

I know this personally, as I received a cease or desist letter from the NFL for showing MNF games for free, even though we served food (but no alcohol). We took it to our attorney, who researched the copyright laws for us and followed it through with the attorney for the NFL.

The copyright laws say that you cannot show their copyrighted material on a screen over 51 (or 55?) inches (even if you aren't charging) UNLESS you are a bar, in which case they allow it. So a theater that regularly serves alcohol is okay.

Churches that do this are also in violation. You might remember about 4 or 5 years ago when the NFL went on a little rampage and cracked down on churches and theaters like mine for showing MNF games for free.

Also, even though we were personally speaking with an NFL attorney, we were not able to be granted permission to show the games.

The theatres I was dealing with had Booz .

I guess I need to start serving booze!

The NFL will not go after churches for showing the superbowl. They tried that back in 2007 or so and the push back was strong with Congress set to change the law. The NFL caved...

www.startchurch.com/blog/view/name/the-n...r-super-bowl-parties