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Enjoy the GIFs from your favorite NFL team's Twitter account this weekend, because you won't be seeing them anymore. According to ESPN's Darren Rovell, clubs will no longer be able to shoot video from the stadium and share it on social media beginning Wednesday. Teams that violate this policy will be fined.
This ban also prohibits organizations from posting highlights that are taken from television and from turning them into GIFs. Rovell, who obtained two league memos, says the NFL wants to ensure that all game day content that emanates from stadiums gets posted on team websites so that it can maintain control of what gets put out there. In addition, teams will be barred from using Facebook Live, Periscope, or other apps to stream anything from inside of the stadium. NFL vice president of communications Brian McCarthy told Mashable this policy has been drafted since the summer.
The penalties for these offenses are steep. Organizations will be fined as much as $25,000 for a first offense, up to $50,000 for a second offense, and a maximum of $100,000 for any violation thereafter. As the MMQB's Albert Breer notes, the punishment for sharing videos now exceeds the cost of illegal headhunting hits. Denver Broncos safety Darian Stewart was fined $18,231 for an illegal hit on Cam Newton in the season-opener. Under this policy, if the Broncos had shared a video of the play on their Twitter account, they would've potentially been docked $25,000.
Never accuse the NFL of not having its priorities straight.