The days in which we can relive Dwight Clark's catch, Donovan McNabb's 4th-and-26, and Joe Theismann's leg break are about to come to an abrupt end. The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that the NFL has asked YouTube to remove video clips of NFL games from its site. This was confirmed on Monday by the NFL's director of corporate communications, Brian McCarthy.On the one hand, I understand that any rebroadcast, reproduction or other use of game footage without the expressed written consent of the NFL is strictly prohibited. On the other hand, these YouTube crackdowns annoy me, because it shows once again that all these corporate entities focus so much on the almighty dollar that they fail to understand the value of free publicity. All these clips that show up on YouTube only help fans feel more connected to the game of football, which is the NFL's primary product. Shutting that down doesn't help customer relations one bit. NFL fans who want to enjoy classic clips from their childhood aren't that likely to drop two bones on an iPod-only replay of last week's Falcons-Lions game, no matter how entertaining it might be to see a team built by Matt Millen knock off Ron Mexico.
I want to believe that this is just a prelude for Roger Goodell to strike some sort of online video deal similar to the National Hockey League's deal with Google Video, but the NFL isn't nearly as desperate for eyeballs as the NHL. When the money is flowing, you want to keep that flow going at all costs, even if it means annoying fans in the process. The football business is different enough from the music business that it won't make enough of a dent to matter. Few of those fans will turn away just because they can't watch Joey Porter scream, "They shot me in Denver!", for the 500th time.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-08-2006 @ 10:54AM
Miami Flamingo said...
The Super Bowl Winner YouTube Video!
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11-08-2006 @ 11:18AM
Ross Trimboli said...
Come on, NFL...not making enough money from corporate sponsors, licensed merchandise and ticket sales?
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11-08-2006 @ 12:33PM
Sportz Assassin said...
"On the other hand, these YouTube crackdowns annoy me, because it shows once again that all these corporate entities focus so much on the almighty dollar that they fail to understand the value of free publicity."
Perfectly said! I feel the same way. The NFL, like other companies, don't understand how some great highlights can help the league. I mean, how many of us have hit up the clip of Jeremy Stevens getting hit in the package?? Big hits, big plays and oddities are beloved by the web world. I mean, the only reason people watch SNL is because the "Lazy Sunday" clip spread like wildfire on the web. Then NBC breaks that off...and no one is watching.
-Sportz
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11-08-2006 @ 12:53PM
Ryan Ferguson said...
Annoying. Short clips online can't possibly hurt them.
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11-09-2006 @ 1:52PM
Boomhauer said...
Any publicity is good publicity but no publicity should be free publicity, that just about sums up the approach by some corporate entities and the NFL. I also know that indifference is also free, and it can cost a lot of money to displace it.
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11-10-2006 @ 1:41AM
Jason Pasalis said...
This crackdown was not only on youtube but Ebay also removed all live NFL games and deleted many accounts. I had been collecting live broadcasts of 49er games off Ebay for the past year. I then edited the games and uploaded them to youtube for 49er fans. I had almost 200 files and 17 games including every play as it happened live. The NFL won't provide these broadcasts for fans and they won't allow us to view them freely. Whatever advertising youtube gained from the videos helped pay for the cost of hosting them. All were made from live public broadcasts, and none of them are commercially available by the NFL.
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