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Sports Broadcasting Technology

Lower Level Sports Organizations Applaud Streaming Internet Ruling

August 26, 2011

(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)

Sports and the Internet seemingly have always had an uneasy alliance. While there are plenty of aspects that sporting agencies love about the Internet, there are others that can cause some truly sticky situations. Some sports teams are completely embracing the Internet craze while other teams and leagues still seem to have more missteps than successes.


We recently reported on how the New York Giants are looking to use Twitter to give themselves and their fans more exposure. While that seems like the perfect blending of sports and the Internet, there are many more cases where the two clash. One recent case that might actually be a big boon for amateur sports organizations is the WIAA vs. The Appleton-Post Crescent

This particular dispute revolved around the Appleton-Post Crescent, a Wisconsin newspaper, showing the live stream of several of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association's high school football games. The problem, according to the WIAA, is that they have an exclusive contract with American-HiFi to stream the organization’s state tournament games. The WIAA sued in 2008 and won that case, and on Wednesday, an appeals court affirmed the ruling in the WIAA’s favor. This particular ruling has several newspaper organizations a little nervous, as they seem to fear that the inability to live stream the games without paying heft vendor fees will also apply to reporting on the game and, more importantly, publishing photos of game action.

Live sporting events have been big money for quite some time, and those making that money have long been very protective of it. This was witnessed in the case where Comcast sued DirecTV over the mere implication that DirecTV (News - Alert) was going to offer “free” NFL football games. It is also witnessed by looking at sporting organizations like Arizona’s Interscholastic Association, which recently generated over $150,000 in a calendar year by controlling who was allowed to stream their football games.

Newspapers are now claiming that the ruling will lead to doubts as to whether or not they own the still photos they take at the games. While these photos certainly aren’t leading to $100,000 pay days, they do generate revenue by being sold to player’s families and the like. Donald Downs, a professor of law, political science and journalism at the University of Wisconsin, told the AP that "As long as this opinion is applied in a conscientious way, it seems like the damage would be limited. It's only the streaming. But I wouldn't want this case to bleed any further,” Downs added, “The newspapers are right to be concerned about it. They don't want the line to be blurred any further."

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Edited by Rich Steeves