Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles mock the NFL's new social media rules with their own 'highlights'
Following the introduction of the NFL’s strict new social media rules for participating teams, the Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles have come up with a creative way of sharing highlights without being subject to hefty fines.
Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles mock the NFL's new social media rules with their own 'highlights'
The teams took to Twitter over the weekend to dramatize touchdowns and other crucial moments via a series of gifs depicting plastic figurines
TOUCHDOWN BROWNS! pic.twitter.com/RjRt9DVlpB
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) October 16, 2016
Memos obtained by ESPN last week outlined the new rules, which ban teams and individual athletes from using live-streaming apps, video, or posting gifs during games in a bid to ensure traffic is driven to its own channels.
The fees for posting videos, which are defined as ‘anything that moves’ in the guidelines, aren’t cheap and could cost teams $25,000 for the first offense, $50,000 for the second, and up to $100,000 for further violations.
Nonetheless, the old-school workaround proved popular on Twitter among fans, with the Eagles’ reconstructions clocking up thousands of retweets and likes.
EXCLUSIVE highlight of Malcolm's pick. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/AiP7FYe3Nf — Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 16, 2016
Kickoff. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/U9qvvnuLUC — Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 16, 2016
While the tongue-in-cheek responses have garnered attention online, the NFL's stance is representive of an ongoing problem faced by sporting leagues and event organisers. Events like the Olympics and Wimbledon have recently asked spectators' to refrain from posting gifs or use live-streaming apps during the action.
NFL itself has put livestreaming at the heart of its digital strategy, inking a deal with Twitter to showcase its Thursday night games. While there was an initial buzz around the move, advertisers are divided over its effectiveness with some saying they are "underwhelmed" by the audience figures despite positive sentiment and strong global reach on launch.