So the church shouldn't have charged for watching the game. They should have charged for some jesus juice.

But the church wasn't going to charge admission. They had to shut down because the NFL wouldn't let them show the game on a projector.

The law about this is here:
US CODE: Title 17,110. Limitations on exclusive rights: Exemption of certain performances and displays

Frankly, I think it's ridiculous. Let's imagine that this church had actually had the party, used a projector, advertised as a "SuperBowl Party", and charged admission. Would the NFL have lost even a single dollar? No! If anything, it would have made money, since more people would be watching the game.

So does anyone know: why are these things illegal?

The way I understood the article was that the church was initially going to charge admission until the NFL told them they couldn't.

Then the church said they just wouldn't charge admission.

Then the NFL told them they couldn't show the game, because their TV was too big.


So... when it's all said & done, the church gets some fantastic publicity out of this, gets to play the role of victim, and gets GREAT promotion for the SuperBowl Party AND the church.

In a weird way, this is GREAT for that church.