NFL Imposes Social Media Restrictions On Clubs

The National Football League (NFL) has placed matchday social media restrictions on its clubs in a bid to drive more traffic to its own channels.

According to documents obtained by ESPN, clubs have been informed of the new matchday rules which come into effect this week, and will no longer be able to shoot video from the stadium and share it on social media, with teams violating the policy being fined.

Teams will no longer be allowed to post videos of game highlights or any videos that show footage within the stadium, which includes the use of live streams such as Facebook Live or Periscope. The restrictions also reach to the use of gifs with the NFL stating that it considers video to be “anything that moves”.

While teams aren’t banned completely from posting videos on social media, they face steep fines if they post between kick-off and an hour after the game ends.

There are penalties for these offences, starting at $25,000 for a first offence and up to $50,000 for a second with a maximum of $100,000 for any following violation.

The restrictions come after the league signed a deal with Twitter to live stream fixtures as the NFL looks to strengthen its own digital platforms.

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