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The NFL vs. The Church

written by Blake Atwood
Monday, February 4, 2008

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Slashdot may have the best headline: Thou Shalt Not View the Super Bowl on a 56″ Screen.

Last year, the NFL began cracking down on churches hosting Super Bowl parties. So this year, it seems to be another hot topic. Many churches heeded the warning and decided to cancel their large gatherings, opting for smaller home viewings, or hosting nothing at all.

While sports bars are given freedom to show the game on screens larger than 55″, churches are not. The NFL, however, has not given a very good reason for the discrepancy, aside from not wanting to promote a specific message. While understandable, what message does the NFL promote by asking viewers to visit bars? (Then again, think about who spends the most money for a 30-second spot and typically has the most memorable Super Bowl ads).

Your church probably has a large projection screen, if not multiple screens. Did your church host a large gathering? Did you knowingly (or unknowingly) break copyright law this past weekend? Is a Super Bowl party a worthwhile church event? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For those that would like a legal, large, church-based Super Bowl party, there may be hope, courtesy of Senator Arlen Specter.

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4 Responses to “The NFL vs. The Church”

  1. This was the first year that we did not do a centralized, big-screen, Super Bowl party (b/c of the NFL) and instead encouraged small groups to host neighborhood parties. While that worked, I don’t think it was as effective… but we’ll work on improving the concept next year.

    Ben Dubow February 4th, 2008 at 12:17 am

  2. Great blog, subscribed to your rss feed. Thanks.

    Psychic Advice July 14th, 2008 at 1:21 am

  3. Some congregation are not in tone with the pastor’s political preaching today (08/31/08). The bible says”thou shall not murder” What does the church/pastor think about GUN CONTROL? Lets stay out of Mccain Obama issue. We are for Jesus.

    Teejay August 31st, 2008 at 3:21 pm

  4. Here’s an idea: how about churches host church on Super Bowl Sunday this year? I don’t know, perhaps they might even preach the gospel and compel the lost to receive Christ? Maybe Christians in America could sacrifice the temporal for the eternal this year? Nah, that’s crazy.

    Eric September 23rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm

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