According to a report in the Feb. 25 issue of Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal,
Major League Baseball joins the NFL in limiting the amount of content news outlets can post on their on-line presences.
“MLB is limiting news organizations from posting 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,” writes Eric Fisher.
The story notes that the material “cannot be streamed live, and like the NFL’s rule, the cap does not apply to news outlets providing their own analysis or reporting….”
The new rules “also prohibit news organizations from posting more than seven photos from any game online and from creating a photo gallery on their Web sites. In addition, non-text content created at MLB ballparks cannot stay up on a news outlet Web site for more than 72 hours.”
Formal press conferences are exempted from the prohibition.
One particular area of conflict within baseball had been pregame and postgame manager press availability….Club managers often have two sessions with the media before and after a game: a meeting with TV and radio reporters followed by a more informal sitting with print reporters. In recent seasons, print reporters have increasingly brought video and audio equipment to the ballparks and used it to stream content online, changing the tenor of those manager interviews.
MLB now is requiring that all applicants for a press credential provide advance written notice of intent to transmit any non-text material.
The decision drew the ire of the Associated Press Sports Editors, “which sees the rules as stifling legitimate news coverage.”
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Hopefully the content limits will inspire better writing that is on topic. I am a rep for Kelley Athletic and I also maintain the Hirsch Group site where we post baseball tips, news and articles where we try to keep things on topic as much as possible.
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