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NCAA Puts Severe Limits On Sport Event Blogging
An anonymous reader writes "You would think that the NCAA would be thrilled to have reporters live blogging events in order to generate more interest and keep passionate fans talking about NCAA sports. Not so. The governing body of the NCAA has released new rules for receiving press credentials and it includes severe limits on live blogging. If you're covering NCAA football, make sure you don't blog more than 3 times in a single quarter. If it's baseball, one post an inning is all you get. If you don't follow the rules expect to get ejected and have your press credentials pulled."
Because we shouldn't delude ourselves that NCAA isn't a professional sports league.
I can watch the game on TV at home or listen on the radio and blog it from home. Does my physically attending the game really help me do a better job of that? Can the NCAA eject me from my house?
Birth is the leading cause of death.
They might take your equipment before you are allowed entrance to the event. Wouldn't be surprised if this happens.
c++;
...why educational institutions ought to be in the business of quasi-professional sports in the first place. The tail has been wagging the dog for a long time now, and it's getting worse every year.
Basically, the NCAA is acting like the MPAA in an attempt to limit access to try to restrict the transmission of information with respect to its events, with an onward eye toward selling exclusive access rights to the highest bidder in the MSM.
Hardly surprising from Myles Brand, the guy who made his claim to fame as the guy who fired Bobby Knight at Indiana...as many would say: "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
And how are they going to take away your press credentials that you never had? This isn't for joe-everybody, it is for people with press credentials.
It's targeted at people with press credentials. If you have press credentials, you probably aren't sitting in the stands. You are probably in the press area. And since you have applied for and received these credentials, they know who you are.
How would they detect it? By checking your blog probably.
Can they stop Joe Everybody from doing it? As a practical matter, probably not. And they probably aren't too worried about Joe Everybody (at least not yet). As for the legal issues, I don't see a problem with it. It's their game, and they set the rules. If you break the rules, they kick you out.
From the FA:
Now, before anyone goes screaming censorship or free speech or anything along those lines -- these are the rules that the NCAA is setting for credentialed reporters. And, as a private organization, the NCAA can set whatever rules it wants for handing out credentials, no matter how mind-numbingly stupid they may be.
This is why I think the distinction is important. If the NCAA is an amateur organization, then we can forgive the situation when some of the member athletes do something stupid, like hire a stripper and serve beer to underage players, then do not have the maturity to excise themselves in a graceful way. But if they are not amateurs, of if NCAA wants to have the privileges affords pro sports, then they must also take on some of the responsibilities. Which means no one can call fowl when the players, even though they are kids, and have their names plastered across all the papers everytime they do something stupid. One cool thing about college is that one can get away with stuff one could never get away with on the outside. The side thing is that kids are accepting these high levels of responsibility without even thinking of the freedoms they are giving up.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
The inclination to control what people do with the information at their disposal usually boils down to the elimination of information outlets which do not ultimately put money in the pockets of those who are trying to control said information.
I am not familiar with this particular money trail, but I would speculate that there exist some specific, approved websites which give to-the-minute updates of the game's progress. They would be popularly known by sports fans.
And they would have ad banners.
If the fans can go to a banner-free blog site (or even a different site with different ad banners) then money isn't flowing to the pockets of the established partner-vendors. That cannot be tolerated, even if it means sacrificing some degree of publicity.
Which would be a violation of federal law.
If it were the other way around there'd be a problem (i.e., prohibiting non-credentialed people from phoning/blogging in scores).
Do you really think they're unprepared for this? Once the press figures out that you don't need credentials to sit in your seat and tap out blog entries from your phone they're going to start ejecting people for that, too. It'll be the fan-attacking RIAA mess all over again.
When I was a kid, we only had one Darth.
So punish the child for the sin of the Father/Mother?
Not sure that seems entirely morally defensible.
I can see how your arguments could make a case for not giving aid to adults, but why not to children in the form of education, etc... Stuff that the parents can't take and sell (like medicines for instance)
Because you are cutting into the Network's, Radio's, and Newspaper's exclusive turf.
Don't expect to be portrayed favorably.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Press credentials don't just get you a comfy seat -- they get you access to detailed press materials (like today's game notes -- ever wonder where all those stories that the broadcast team tells come from? The game notes, that's where) and even more importantly, access to the players and coaches and management in the press scrums and for one-on-one interviews. That said, I don't know exactly what you get at the NCAA level. But at the MLB level, the access is phenomenal and you bend over backwards not to lose it once you have it.