According to this Reuters article, the NHL is following in the NFL’s and NBA’s footsteps of banning players from using social networking before, during, and after the game. That’s probably a good idea – I could see quite easily using social networking to set up a gambling ring. MLB already has a policy regarding communication devices prohibiting their use before games.
The NFL though, is acting somewhat hypocritical here. There was a huge marketing campaign with the last SuperBowl that involved Twitter, but now the NFL says ixnay on the tweeting. According to the article, leagues are setting these policies up to “protect broadcast rights holders from tweeters getting too close to play-by-play.” So how does a player ban prevent fans from “getting too close to play-by-play?” And why doesn’t this ban before and during games apply to coaches in the NFL, like in the other leagues? Of course, an NFL coach would never throw a game to win a bet, right?
Tags: Social networking
