Media Credentials for the Super Bowl

When thinking about media credentials, I remember hearing stories about how many in the media request passes for various events. I specifically recall seeing how big the media section of the NBA 2012 Orlando All-Star game was. The media took up a huge chunk of the lower bowl. Then, I thought of how many people are around the sidelines of a Super Bowl game. It astounds me that it takes that many members of the “press” to report a game seen by hundreds of millions on live broadcast.

To me, there are two sides to this. First, we have the various leagues and their desire to have as much press discuss this as possible. Filling 10 rows of seats with paying fans is greatly outweighed by the need to have the press give the event tons of attention. Secondly, we have the year 2012 and although there are many more people “reporting” the event, it’s not needed. The reason I say this is because with so much communication capacity now, we don’t need thousands of reporters retelling the same story.

I’ve worked many press events, so I know how it is. Walt Disney World has hired me many times to shoot video at these press events. When a new ride, show or event happens, they invite media from all over the world to cover it. They treat the media very well and have people like me go with the producer so they can get video for their network or station. The biggest network I was sent with was the BBC. We had to shoot a bunch of material at Epcot and I quickly understood how many people would see the footage I was shooting.

Biggest Issue in Sports Today

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE.)  What is it and why would this be in a sports blog? CTE is a disease that occurs after multiple concussions and it diagnosed after death. There has been a rash of former football and hockey players committing suicide in the last few years due to this.  The most recent was Junior Seau, a perennial NFL Pro-Bowler. Like another NFL player before him, he shot himself in the chest. Dave Duerson killed himself this way and wished for his brain to be studied, as he could no longer deal with his affliction.

The legal aspect of this case is a number of former players are suing the NFL on the basis of a prior knowledge of the potential brain issues and resulting conditions. There are over 1500 former players in the suit and the number keeps growing.


One very interesting part of this argument hasn’t been talked about very much. Follow me here. Gregg Williams, former Defensive Coordinator for the Saints and somewhat current DC for the Rams was suspended recently fir his bounty programs used in the past. While he was in New Orleans, he ran a program that rewarded players for certain types of play. This breaks a big rule in the NFL. There have been more suspensions, but Gregg’s is the longest, indefinite. Now, listen to this clip, which is NOT safe for work, and hear how Gregg Williams clearly calls for hurting players, but more so than just a hard hit. Why does this tape exist? Well, a filmmaker is documenting the very physical nature of football and exploring a former Saints player that now has ALS, Lou Gehrig’s syndrome. He had permission to be there and made this audio available for the public and the NFL. The connection is that the type of play Williams advocates for is what causes some brain diseases. The clip now really comes full circle because it was used to implicate Williams and help get himself suspended, hopefully forever.

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-05-03/worldsport/sport_nfl-lawsuit_1_concussions-deceased-nfl-players-player-safety?_s=PM:WORLDSPORT

http://theusof.com/2012/04/tru-dat-gregg-williams-saints-audio-bountygate-pay-for-pain/

http://www.bu.edu/cste/about/what-is-cte/

Hart v. Electronic Arts

While my business plan incorporates many aspects of production, intellectual property rights aren’t really that much of a concern. We have to cover our basics like logo, motto/slogan, any software or stock footage/music rights and such. However, we don’t need to worry about performance clearances, as the production is responsible for it. However, the story I encountered interests me greatly as it can have a large effect on sports and entertainment industries.

What I found is a recent United States District Court decision to dismiss a claim by a former Rutgers football player. Ryan Hart sued EA Sports claiming that they illegally used his name and likeness in production of a video game. EA Sports said the First Amendment protects them. The judge ruled with EA Sports and the “transformative work” done by EA fulfilled the definition of the term. They changed enough of his likeness to qualify for this exemption. To me, it would be like taking someone’s song they wrote, changing only some of it, then not giving the original artist credit or payment.

As players of professional sports are usually protected by collective bargaining agreements, collegiate athletes are prohibited from earning money from their sports. Therein lies the issue for me. I understand EA walk a line, but they also take advantage of the NCAA rules. They only do this to the students because they can. Just because the law may be on their side doesn’t make it right.

The thing that burns me the most though is the game is made locally. I know people that worked on it, and they have no say is this sort of thing.