Hmmm...a TV contract versus live streaming on phones. Wonder who goes to win this one - even in the short term? JL
SportsCal reports:
In June 2013, Fox, the US national television network, landed the rights to USGA events in a 12-year deal worth close to $100 million per year, more the double the value of the USGA’s previous domestic rights agreement. Periscope, bought by Twitter for close to $100 million earlier this year, came into focus as fans used the app to follow the boxing bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao instead of signing up for pay-per-view coverage.
Live streaming applications such as Periscope will be prohibited at the US Open, the (currently) major on golf’s calendar, as the United States Golf Association seeks to defend its contracted broadcast rights-holders.
Periscope, which was bought by Twitter for close to $100 million earlier this year, came into sharp focus as some fans used the app to follow action from the high-profile boxing bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao instead of signing up for pay-per-view coverage.
Both Periscope and Meerkat have proved popular with users on Twitter, but the apps will not be able to used by fans at the US Open at Chambers Bay in Washington.
Guidelines from the USGA state that fans can bring their smartphones to the course, but that any use of such apps to film video footage “may result in immediate expulsion and loss of ticket privileges for the remainder of the championship.”
Sarah Hirshland, USGA’s senior managing director of business affairs, told Bloomberg that the time might come when fans are allowed to stream video from tournaments, but that such a policy would have to take several factors into consideration, chiefly the protection of broadcasters’ rights.
Hirshland, who left Wasserman Media Group to join the USGA in 2011, said: “It’s not as simple as simply saying ‘hey, we saw this person doing this thing and it was really cool so let’s just let them do it.
“We’ve got to really be deliberate and think about implications over the long term and think about the positive and the negative. I’m not so sure it’s as simple as black and white.”
She continued: “Nobody wants to be overly protectionist. But at the same time, you do want to protect your brand and the quality of the viewing experience.”
In June 2013, Fox, the US national television network, landed the rights to USGA events in a 12-year deal worth close to $100 million per year, more the double the value of the USGA’s previous domestic rights agreement.
Last week, the US PGA Tour stripped the golf blogger Stephanie Wei of her media credentials after she streamed live video on Periscope of Masters winner Jordan Speith during a practice round at the World Golf Championships Cadillac Match Play event in San Francisco.
Spectators at the US Open will be permitted to use standalone cameras and smartphone cameras during practice rounds only and for personal photographic use, while video and audio recordings will be banned at all time.
Meanwhile, Kayvon Beykpour, Periscope’s co-founder, has defended the company in the wake of the streams of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight that were made available by users
Speaking at the TechCrunch conference, he said: “From an operational standpoint we were completely prepared for our partners to reach out to us and request we respect their IP rights. We basically have a team that looks at an email channel and if someone says, 'Hey this stream is violating our copyright,' we take it down.
"We had 66 requests for take down and took down 30 of them all within a matter of minutes. The ones we didn't take down ended because you can imagine how every stream isn't super long."
Beykpour remarked that piracy “is not a Periscope thing, it’s an internet thing.”
The widespread availability of clips from the fight prompted Dick Costolo, the chief executive of Twitter, to tweet that the app was “the winner.”
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