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Commercials allowed mall for nfl { September 4 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22855-2003Sep3.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22855-2003Sep3.html
Ad Rules Relaxed for NFL Bash
Mall Promotions Amount to 'Sponsor Recognition,' Park Service Says
By Karlyn Barker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 4, 2003; Page B01
Rules prohibiting commercial marketing on the Mall do not apply to this week's NFL extravaganza because the promotional aspects constitute "sponsor recognition" and not advertising, National Park Service officials said yesterday.
The decision also allows the National Football League to show tonight's season opener between the Redskins and the New York Jets, including commercials, on Jumbotron screens that will be set up between Third and 14th streets NW. National Park Service officials had determined last week that only public service announcements could be aired on the Mall.
Permission to broadcast the full game, including the ads, was granted after several days of negotiations among the Park Service, the NFL and WJLA-TV, the local ABC affiliate that will show the game. The final permit for tonight's event was issued yesterday by the Park Service, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of the Interior, a partner in the program.
Officials at the Park Service concede that the televised concert and game, with commercials, is unprecedented for an agency whose regulations ban commercial uses of the Mall. But they say relaxing the rules is justified by the unique nature of the NFL program.
"This is the first time the Park Service has had a proposal of this magnitude," said Bill Line, a spokesman for the agency's national capital region. "This is different from advertising; these are sponsor recognition. . . . The NFL is turning to other sponsors to generate the money necessary to put on this event."
Vikki Keys, acting superintendent for the Park Service's Mall area, said she decided to allow the showing of commercials once she realized that it was an "event broadcast from the Mall to the Mall."
"Once I understood more about what would occur, I determined that it was in keeping with Park Service guidelines and policy," Keys said.
The four-day football festival culminates tonight in a pregame concert featuring Aretha Franklin, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige, Aerosmith and others. The concert, with the last hour televised live, will be presented from 6 to 9 p.m. on the Mall just before the NFL season opener is played at FedEx Field.
The two events are expected to draw huge crowds to the Mall and the stadium, affecting rush-hour traffic, particularly if predicted thunderstorms move through the area tonight. Commuters are being urged to use public transportation, and federal workers have been encouraged to take annual leave.
The event will be held rain or shine, sponsors said. But last night's dress rehearsal was taped just in case severe weather causes problems with the live broadcast.
The NFL threw itself a large opening-day party last year at New York's Times Square but did not show the game. The decision to show the game on the Mall became an issue Friday, when Keys said the game could be shown but only if the TV commercials were replaced with public service announcements.
Over the weekend, however, the NFL said it had reached an agreement that allowed the broadcast to be shown with essentially the same commercials that will be seen by the television audience. A source close to the negotiations said Park Service public announcements will be mixed in with the regular commercials.
Allowing the Mall and its monuments to be used for commercial purposes has long been a sensitive issue. The decision to embrace the NFL celebration has angered several groups, including some whose weekly protests have been displaced and who are familiar with the many restrictions imposed by the Park Service.
"I think they're violating their guidelines," said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a lawyer with Partnership for Civil Justice who has represented protesters planning large demonstrations on the Mall. "To be turning the Mall into a billboard is, I think, what all the people would recognize as a violation of the stewardship of the Park Service."
Verheyden-Hilliard said that in some past demonstrations, police officers have threatened to arrest protesters who were distributing T-shirts or other material. "We didn't know they simply needed to get themselves corporate sponsorship by Coors," she said.
Charles Atherton, secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts, the federal panel that oversees aesthetics in ceremonial Washington, said the NFL event has crossed the line of excessive commercialism. "It's grown now beyond a reasonable amount of equipment and advertising," he said. "I would say there's not a trace of any dignity to that space. It's just a midway."
Judy Scott Feldman, chairman of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall, said money and influence are taking over the Mall in the absence of an updated master plan for how the core promenade should be used.
"Who's in charge? The television station and marketing people are apparently making the decisions about how the Mall will be used," she said, arguing that the Interior Department has a conflict of interest in regulating the event because it is a co-partner with the NFL to promote its initiative on volunteerism in the nation's parks.
The Park Service, which granted the NFL a 17-day permit to set up and dismantle its events, has said that the regulations governing demonstrations are stricter than the regulations covering special events. Line said that having signs on the Mall acknowledging event sponsors has been permitted many times, including for The Washington Post, a sponsor of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Mark Pfeifle, a spokesman for the Interior Department, denied that the agency had pressured the Park Service to relax its restrictions against commercialism. He noted that those who oppose the NFL event also oppose building the World War II Memorial and a visitor center for the Washington Monument.
"These groups many times do not want visitors to have an enjoyable experience," he said. "The event on the Mall will pay tribute to our fighting men and women who are securing our freedom at home and overseas, especially coming up on the second anniversary of the horrendous attacks of September 11. The event also pays tribute to tens of thousands of people who donate their time to preserve and protect public lands."
Pfeifle and Keys said that the television ads on the Mall are no different than what is shown on televisions in campsites and parkland hotels. "Nobody comes and demands that they turn off their sets when the commercials come on," Pfeifle said.
At last night's rehearsal on the Mall, a crowd of about 100 spectators grew steadily as joggers, tourists and a few rehearsal groupies hung out in front of the stage. They got a firsthand look at the technical work that goes into a monster entertainment event -- as well as front-row seats they could never buy.
"It's real cool to see everyone up close and personal like this. I'd never get this close," said Jeff Dixon, 35, who came from Hughesville to sneak a peek at Spears's bellybutton.
The highlight of Keeva Blackwood's night was supposed to be going backstage and meeting Spears. "Britney was, like, 'Hello. Goodbye.' And it wasn't all that great," said the 24-year-old from Columbia, who won the meeting with Spears in an online Pepsi contest. "I really wanted to meet Mary J. Blige."
It turned out, then, that the best part of the night came after the Spears camp said goodbye to Blackwood and she happened upon Blige's rehearsal. In her red sundress and sandals, ankle-deep in mud, Blackwood took her best photos yet -- just a few feet from Blige as the leather-clad star performed a few songs.
Staff writers David A. Fahrenthold, Petula Dvorak, John Maynard, David Montgomery, Arthur Santana, Katherine Shaver, Jacqueline Trescott and Linda Wheeler contributed to this report.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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