No, this does not have to do with how long your food is safe after it has fallen on the ground. The new “45 Second Rule” refers to the allowed length of video clips from team facilities that news stations and non NFL Web sites are allowed to play daily. With the increasing prominence of Internet video, sports leagues feel they must compete with media Web sites when it comes to attracting viewers and advertisers. While other major league sports may express their concern, the NFL has made football the only sport to impose such restrictions thus far.
As NFL spokesman Greg Aiello states in washingtonpost.com article “Under NFL Rule, Media Web Sites Are Given Just 45 Seconds to Score”:
“We have no interest in controlling or limiting what news Web sites do, except limiting the use of video that undermines our own Internet operations. We have important business interests on the Internet, and we have to be careful about that.”
Still, many fear that fans will miss out on valuable content under the new restrictions. Journalists certainly do not embrace the policy either, as evidenced by Houston Chronicle sports columnist John McClain’s video satire of the restrictions.
