NFL, Pro Tennis Place Restrictions on Use of Twitter

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 1, 2009 - 9:54am.

New York - The National Football League (NFL) on Monday announced a ban on the use of social networking services like Twitter on game days by players, coaches and even the media, CNET News.com reported.

The ban will be in effect from 90 minutes before the start of a game until after the conclusion of post-game interviews.

The NFL also issued guidelines on the media's use of Twitter, banning any posting of play-by-play accounts by members of the media.

The new rule generally extends the NFL's guarded protection of its approved broadcast partners.

Meanwhile, the International Tennis Federation has instructed players not to tweet "sensitive information" about themselves or other players at the upcoming U.S. Open, the Telegraph reports.

The ITF claims such information -- for instance, about court conditions, or players' own physical condition -- could be used by tennis gamblers to unfair advantages, among other things.

The warning applies not just to players, but also to coaches, agents, tournament staff and even players' families.

"Tennis's governing bodies felt that it was appropriate to issue these guidelines as a precaution in light of the increased use of the various social networking sites by players," Jeff Rees, director of the ITF's "Tennis Integrity Unit," told the Telegraph.

http://snipurl.com/rj0kr (Telegraph)

Published in DMW Daily, September 1, 2009

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Comments

Twitter ban?

Submitted by Tennis (not verified) on September 2, 2009 - 4:04am.

Ok, so who cares? I don't think players would be able to give "inside" information in 140 characters. I can understand that sports organizations don't want to have their players taking time during the game to tweet, but come on, seriously, they're putting a time frame on this stuff. It's a bit ridiculous I'd say. Let them do whatever they want, they're human too.