MLB, which has been the most proactive digital rights holder among the leagues, through its digital arm MLB Advanced Media, has now issued its set of restrictions:
News sites can’t post more than 120 seconds a day of audio or video from league facilities, with game highlights restricted only to rights holders that have a separate rights deal with MLB Advanced Media (Read more from Paid Content)
As expected, the Associated Press Sports Editors has criticized the rules as too restrictive…they are slated to meet MLBAM officials in the next few weeks to discuss the new rules.
This follows slight more restrictive NFL rules. Efforts by news orgs to make NFL rethink the restrictions haven’t been very fruitful, though NFL later clarified some exceptions to the rules. The NBA and NHL are still to enact these kinds of rules, but could follow the leads of other two leagues.
I respectfully submit to the wisdom of our league officials in this area. After all, they are the ones who have built and nurtured the value of our broadcast rights which have made the league what it is today. But it is challenging, from a team perspective. Since we do not have the rights to our own content online, we are prevented from experimenting with new, digital forms of content , and distribution monetization. Patience is a virtue, so we’ll wait to see how this all pans out.
Talk about he who pays the piper calls the tune.
It’s getting so ridiculous though that eventually I’ll have to pay MLB or NBA, the NHL or whatever..just for success in getting someone’s autograph . Marketing can go too far, and all they are success ful in doing is making it tough for average people to enjoy sports.