INDIANAPOLIS - The NFL's ban on mass viewings of Sunday's Colts-Bears Super Bowl game is forcing some churches to cancel their party plans for fear of violating copyright laws.
The NFL objected to the church's plans to use a projector to show the game, saying the law limits it to one TV no bigger than 55 inches.
Ball State University also plans to have a "Super Football Party" that will show the game on "big screens" at 4 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom, according to an advertisement for the party.
Party organizers from the University Programs Board and Late Nite refused to comment on whether or not projectors would be used or whether they were concerned about being in violation of copyright laws.
NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church's "Super Bowl Bash" on the church Web site last week. The league sent an overnight letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said.
At first the league objected to the church's plan to charge a fee to attend, and the church used the license-protected words "Super Bowl" in its promotions.
Pastor John D. Newland said he told the NFL his church would not charge anyone and that it would drop the use of the forbidden words.
The church will likely abandon its plans to host a Super Bowl party. At least two other central Indiana churches are following suit.
"We want to be supportive of our local team," Newland said. "For us to have all our congregation huddled around a TV that is big enough only for 10 or 12 people to watch just makes little sense."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league's long-standing policy is to ban "mass out-of-home viewing" of the Super Bowl. An exception is made for sports bars and other businesses that show televised sports as a part of their everyday operations.
"We have contracts with our (TV) networks to provide free over-the-air television for people at home," Aiello said. "The network economics are based on television ratings and at-home viewing. Out-of-home viewing is not measured by Nielsen."
It is also the reason no mass viewings are planned in large arenas like the RCA Dome or Conseco Fieldhouse.
Even sports bars allowed to show the game are treading carefully.
Kathy Gore, owner of Bubbaz in Indianapolis, is careful not to advertise her bar's plans for Sunday as a Super Bowl party. Instead, radio ads call it the "big game on Feb. 4."
"We just go by the rules, but everybody knows it's the Colts game," she said. "We don't have to say the word we're not supposed to say, because everybody knows it's the Colts game."
Newland said he was frustrated by the NFL's stance but that his church won't break the law.
"Most of the places where crowds are going to gather to watch this game are going to be places that are filled with alcohol and other things that are inappropriate for children," Newland said. "We tried to provide an alternative to that and were shut down."
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