NFL's Web Fumble

Dallas Morning News | Editorials:

“In what figures as one of its screwier policies, the No Fun League wants to limit news organizations to posting to their Web sites no more than 45 seconds per day of video shot at a team's facilities. ... The NFL figures that restricting video access to news organization will drive football hungry fans to the league's Web site for exclusive clips. In turn, the league will reap advertising dollars. ... It's time that the NFL lighten up and serve its fans.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

No one should be under the illusion that The Dallas Morning News cares a whit about the fans. It's in a fight for its life. Everywhere the old, dead tree media turn, there's someone stealing their advertising dollars, from Craigslist to ESPN to the NFL Web site.

For decades, newspapers grew fat, dumb, and happy putting out papers that often look more like house organs for the local NFL team than general information newspapers. The Dallas Morning News has more front page stories on the Dallas Cowboys than any single other subject. It often publishes two (!) sports sections, one devoted almost exclusively to the Dallas Cowboys.

I'm sure the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys appreciate all the free publicity the News has given them in its paper over the years, but now they want to keep some of that advertising dollar in house. The NFL may not have wanted to get into the newspaper business (who wants to get into a dying business?), but there's no barrier to entry for the NFL setting up a Web site and having advertisers pay them for their product. It's just as easy for fans to type nfl.com into their Web browser as dallasnews.com. The fans are still going to get all the Dallas Cowboys stories they want on the Internet. They just won't be getting it from the local newspaper's Web site. There's no reason to mourn for the fans. Or predict the demise of the haughty NFL. It's the newspapers that are doomed, not the NFL.