Casinos not best seat in house for big game

By Liz Benston

Friday, Feb. 2, 2007 | 7:07 a.m.

Grant Hodson was just looking for a place to sit and watch the Super Bowl, and staying home wouldn't cut it.

His search quickly turned into an episode of "The Twilight Zone," with a bewildered Hodson making dozens of calls to casinos, flipping through newspapers and magazines and wondering why in the world casinos were being cagey about promoting the biggest betting day of the year.

Hodson, a six-year Las Vegas resident hosting some friends from Oregon, knew that the National Football League had cracked down on Super Bowl parties that charged admission. But why, he wondered, don't casinos open up a ballroom with supersized screens for fans who want to watch the game without standing like caged cattle in the sports book?

The answer, Grant, is that the NFL draws the line on how the game can be viewed by the masses.

As a result, the search for Super Bowl events in Las Vegas has become as passionate as college kids prowling for an underground party.

The fact that a spectacle expected to draw 287,000 visitors to Las Vegas this weekend is only cropping up in a few half-hearted ads for the "Big Game" is a testament to the clout of the NFL, which has cowed Las Vegas casinos into complying with the league's wide-ranging rights to control how the game is broadcast.

Copyright rules allow the NFL to prohibit the game from being shown in public on screens that, according to federal law, are larger than those "commonly used in private homes." The law also allows the league to prohibit anyone from charging admission to see the game. NFL attorneys sent cease-and-desist letters to casinos around town three years ago, upsetting bosses, fans and gamblers who say the league is biting the hand that feeds interest in the championship.

While this copyright rule applies to any broadcast event, it is the Super Bowl - which attracted a record-breaking 78 million viewers last year - where the NFL has chosen to flex its legal muscle.

It is motivated by fear that people would watch the game in bars and convention halls rather than at home, where Nielsen ratings of viewers are crucial in establishing rates broadcasters can charge advertisers. Similar concerns about what broadcasters call "out of home" viewings were behind the NFL's recent decision to quash a Super Bowl broadcast for fans at Soldier Field in Chicago, where fans instead will be tailgating in the parking lot with their own portable radios and television sets.

People gathering in smaller venues such as sports bars "aren't going to put a big dent in the Nielsen ratings" so they don't generally pose much threat to broadcasters, said Mary LaFrance, a professor specializing in intellectual property law at UNLV. But bigger broadcasts such as the casino parties attracting hundreds of people were a concern, she said.

Strictly speaking, many casinos will be violating the rules when they show the game this Sunday. But there's one caveat in the league's restrictions: In the wake of casino lobbying, the NFL has allowed big-screen broadcasts in sports books and other venues such as bars that have shown NFL games year-round. More than a year ago, some casinos installed additional televisions around their properties for the express purpose of being able to show the Super Bowl on more screens.

Some bars and strip clubs around town are brazenly charging admission for Super Bowl viewing parties. But because they haven't received legal warnings with enough advance notice required to enforce a copyright, they're hoping to get away with it. Casinos, it appears, aren't willing to take those chances with the NFL - at least publicly.

Most bigger events have gone underground. Many casinos will quietly host private parties for high rollers and other VIPs. But only a handful are opening ballrooms with big-screen broadcasts. Unlike years past, these events are free to the public but allow customers to buy food and drink.

LaFrance says both types of broadcasts could potentially violate the NFL's copyright if they are shown on big screens, regardless of whether the venues are charging admission.

The Gold Coast, for one, is playing it safe. To accommodate fans and appease the NFL, the casino will broadcast the game on medium-sized televisions located in a ballroom that has been partitioned into six rooms.

"This was carefully scripted" to comply with NFL guidelines, said spokesman Rob Stillwell of Boyd Gaming Corp., the Gold Coast's owner.

With fewer big rooms to collect football hordes and casinos relegating more of their Super Bowl viewings to the gambling floor, properties have become more crowded than ever. Fans hoping to snag a seat in the sports book will be showing up several hours before Sunday's 3:25 p.m. kickoff.

"The right way to enjoy the game is in a separate lounge or large viewing area where you can sit down," said Steve Fezzik, a professional sports bettor based in Las Vegas. "The wrong way to watch it is in the sports book, which is like being in a nightclub but instead of beautiful women and people watching you're surrounded by a bunch of degenerate sports bettors."