Rogers locks up all rights to World Cup Protecting against high-tech interlopers

There’s a storm brewing on the sidelines of major sporting events.

It’s pitting sports organizations against the media as leagues try to gain control over the use of their products at a time when technology is increasing the opportunities to use those rights.

Things were relatively simple back in the days when television, radio, newspapers and magazines were all leagues had to focus on. They could control who got access to what fairly easily.

But with the explosion of Internet video on demand, game broadcasts on cellphones and a variety of other high-tech platforms, leagues are frantically trying to find ways to make sure they’re compensated for use of their products.

World Cup organizers have already done that.

Yesterday, Rogers Communications announced a multi-level World Cup soccer broadcast deal that included rights to television broadcasts, wireless broadcasts, Internet video, foreign-language television and video on demand. That includes everything from sending game updates to cellphones to offering national anthem ring tones.

Rights fees were not disclosed but you can be sure it cost the cable giant millions to get exclusive rights to the world’s biggest tournament. You can also be sure that those who haven’t paid for those rights will find access to World Cup content denied.

“With the Olympics and major events like the World Cup, broadcasters now will have to look to get events covered on every single platform,” Rogers vice-chairman Phil Lind said.

In the Wild West of the web, drastic measures are being taken.

The latest flashpoint came this month when the NFL banned local TV cameras from the sidelines. Its intent is to stop stations that haven’t paid rights fees from using NFL highlights, especially on the Internet.

“As a league, we have to protect our most valuable rights, which is game footage,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said at the time.

The NFL is the latest in a long line of leagues and organizations trying to exert greater control over the media. The International Olympic Committee has long banned those who haven’t paid rights fees from showing highlights until 24 hours have passed. The English Premier League has copyrighted its schedule.

World Cup organizers want websites to wait two hours after matches have concluded before posting still photos. The LPGA Tour recently backed down from a demand that all photos taken at tournaments will become copyright after one use.

Needless to say, media outlets are crying foul.

“The NFL proposal is not in the public interest,” Society of Professional Journalists president David Carlson said in a statement protesting the sideline ban. “It is bad for the public, bad for the news media and bad for the NFL.

“Excluding local stations interferes with the public’s ability to get information from a wide variety of sources.”

The NFL says local stations will have access to highlights from the networks that broadcast the games, NFL Films or the team’s in-house film crew. But Carlson says that’s not the point.

“This smells like an attempt by the NFL to censor coverage,” he said.

Those in the TV business say this move infringes on their ability to give the highlights their own stamp and pursue their own stories. They fear everything will have a canned look to it.

But those on the other side see it as a settling of accounts long overdue.

“Given the explosion in distribution platforms and the growth of alternative means of generating revenue, I think the major rights holders have come to the realization that over the years they have allowed others to profit from their product without paying copyright fees,” New York-based broadcast consultant Neal Pilson said.

“For a long time, people were shooting footage of copyrighted major league games … and generating revenues that didn’t come back to the rights holders.”

Those include Sunday night roundup shows created by local stations, he says, and the use of still photos from sports events in books.

The rapid advancement of technology is the impetus behind these moves, Pilson said.

With highlights and video now available on cellphones, laptops and iPods, leagues want their share of the high-tech pie.

“The leagues are just trying to reassert their rights,” Pilson said. “With all the pressure on rights holders to generate revenue, they’re going to look at every possible way to monetize rights.”

But they have to be careful about biting the hand that feeds them, he noted.

“It may or may not be good business,” Pilson said. “They may find they are so restrictive in terms of information and access that they find the public is losing interest in their sport because the public can’t get access to it.”

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Apr. 28, 2006. 06:08 AM
CHRIS ZELKOVICH
SPORTS MEDIA COLUMNIST