The NFL is taking this "No Fun League" business to a new level, prohibiting teams from posting video highlights and even gifs on social media during games.
The league reportedly sent a memo to all 32 teams stating that posting any unapproved videos will result in a $25,000 fine, $50,000 the second time, and $100,000 for a third infraction as well as "loss of rights to post League-Controlled Content (including game footage)."
Furthermore, the league announced that "video" means "anything that moves" so gifs from previous games, player celebrations and even pop culture is off limits. For instance, posting gifs from Seinfeld or any other show during the game will be banned starting next Wednesday, October 12th.
According to Mashable:
"Sources from two teams said they feel the new policy is meant to limit the creativity of what teams can do online during games in order to drive attention and eyeballs to official NFL accounts, as opposed to social accounts operated by franchises."
"On Twitter, for example, the memo says "video may not be posted from kickoff until 60 minutes after the conclusion of the game" by teams. The exception is "club 're-posts' of League video.""
"That includes GIFs from previous games of players celebrating, or even pop culture GIFs such as tangentially relevant quotes from Seinfeld or other TV shows. So, for now at least, even moving images of Harambe are off limits during games."
The NFL's ratings are actually down 10% on major networks, and their response is to put less content on social media sites like Facebook in hopes that it'll drive people back to the TV? They think less Harambe memes on Twitter will help their ratings sky rocket? Yeah, that'll work.
But hey, at least the NFL is going to let players wear whatever cleats they want for one game, right?
Also:
"In the NFL season opener, Darian Stewart of the Broncos was fined $18,231 for an illegal hit on league MVP Cam Newton. Under the new guidelines, had the Broncos or Panthers then used Twitter to post video of the hit that was not a "re-post" of a "League video," the team could be hit with a $25,000 fine — more than Stewart was fined for delivering the illegal hit in the first place."
