NFL Bans Teams from Recording and Posting Video Content During Games

It’s official, the NFL is out to ruin fun, or so some people seem to believe. The league is hardly popular, to begin with. They have initiated a lot of changes in recent times that have drawn the ire of fans, coaches, and players across the country. The issue of posting videos is just another issue to divert conversations from NFL Lines and odds.

The NFL would defend a decision such as this by suggesting that everything they do actually benefits the game in the long run. However, it is difficult to see that rationale going down well with players, coaches and anyone working for the league.

If you haven’t heard, the NFL has banned its members from posting videos on social media during games. To be more specific, the league has assured its members that they can and will be punished for posting videos of games on social media while a game is still going on.

If this doesn’t seem like such a big deal, then you probably do not realize how common it has become for people to record games inside the stadium during games. Teams and players, for one reason or another, like to keep fans apprised of the goings-on of their games by making posts on Facebook Live and Periscope while games are still ongoing.

However, it looks like the NFL has had enough of the practice. Anyone who thinks that this declaration is a little sudden probably hasn’t been following the NFL for the last few months.

The league has been making a number of changes, not only on the field but with regards to its social media policy and, as with most changes coming out of the NFL, this new rule is most likely designed to help the league make even more money.

And they haven’t really minced their words about this particular rule; the NFL isn’t merely advising people against posting video content on social media during games. They have already outlined the punishments that will befall people who break this rule. First violations will attract a fine of $25,000 to the offending team.

Those teams that fall foul of the law a second time can expect a fine as high as $50,000 while each additional offenses would attract a $100,000 penalty. Anyone who thinks that teams probably have a myriad of ways to get around this ruling might be surprised by the comprehensive nature of the NFL’s new declaration.

According to Roger Goodell, even taking highlights from television and posting them on social media is banned, this along with crafting animated GIFS out of the highlights. All in all, the commissioner’s message is simple: if anyone wants to gain access to the highlights of any given game, they can go to a given team’s official website.

Pundits believe that this is the NFL’s way of ensuring that they maintain as keen an oversight as possible over the circulation of content.

The NFL also made mention of the increase in unsportsmanlike conduct this season, the league going so far as to update the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

The NFL is striving for higher standards; it will be interesting to see how the teams respond