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These Tweets Are Making Me Salty: NFL Doesn't Even Want Teams Sharing GIFs and Video

The NFL will now fine teams up to $100,000 for tweeting GIFs and videos. Literally even Seinfeld GIFs.

Hi NFL, 2016 called, it wants to know when you're getting here?

Was that lame? Unbelievably. So is the NFL for completely ignoring what online and Twitter life is like and believing it can ignore the reality of the world it lives in.

The league office sent out a memo to all 32 teams this week, according to a Mashable report, telling them they'll get fined if they send out any unapproved video during a game. So if you see the Steelers account tweeting out a video or a gif of Pittsburgh intercepting Ryan Fitzpatrick, that's a $25,000 fine. Do it again, and that's $50,000. Want to test the almighty NFL again, it could cost as much as $100,000 (and with Fitzpatrick the opportunities for fines are limitless).

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"The league deemed video to be 'anything that moves,' according to a source from one franchise who was on the call.
That includes GIFs from previous games of players celebrating, or even pop culture GIFs such as tangentially relevant quotes from Seinfeld or other TV shows. So, for now at least, even moving images of Harambe are off limits during games."

NFL teams: no longer masters of their own domain.

The goal, according to the report, is to keep eyes (and all the RTs) on the official NFL accounts. Obviously, this is stupid. It may actually rank up pretty high on the NFL's list of draconian and misguided policies. Setting up false borders is a natural loss for the league and its teams. Look at how Major League Baseball has foolhardily limited GIFs from non league accounts. It limits the growth and exposure of the sport. Can't anyone learn from the NBA and its open-minded social media approach? If people—let alone your own teams—want to share your product and sell it for you then goddamn take it. Now we'll get boring play-by-play from team accounts and they'll get plenty of unfollows and mutes.

Is this related at all to NFL ratings dropping? An NFL spokesman told Mashable no, but by now we know to be dubious of most of what comes out of the league's mouth.

The rules will go into effect Oct. 12 and start an hour before kickoff and last until the game ends. Unfollow accordingly.

[Mashable]