NFL wants PJs as unpaid billboards

Please read "New NFL Vest Rule (With Sponsor Logos) Has Some Seeing Red" by Donald R. Winslow, News Photographer magazine.

This vestvertising gimmick is too stupid to warrant much of a statement.

Don't bother contacting the NFL. Contact CPS and your Canon reps. Let them know you don't approve of this idea and refuse to buy their products until they put pressure on the NFL to shut this plan down.

Here's the scoop:   people look at our tools because they want to shoot "like the pros." Most pro PJs already shoot Canon. Now, Canon is trying to tick us off. Not wise.

With new technology leading toward single-purpose VJ cameras, Sony and JVC are looking much more appealing than Canon as of today.

If Canon really wants to pay the NFL to lose my business, future sales and the sales of folks I contact in my daily travels and e-mails, it's their option. It's a non-conventional business model. I wonder how well it'll work for them.

Oh, BTW, I've never covered an NFL game. So the vests don't affect me directly. However, it's important for Canon to consider the loss of my business (and every other PJ who doesn't shoot NFL games) in the annual budget as well.

As long as they support this plan, it's already costing them somewhere between $5,000 and $25,000 within the next year. So, they'll need to sell about $50,000 worth of point-and-shoot cameras to make up for the lost sales from me alone. I can't imagine vestvertising creating such a high demand to make up for each staff shooter that refuses to support Canon over this.

Since I didn't mention it yet, let's remember it costs our companies at least $400 to put us on the sidelines for a game. An out-of-town game can cost well over $1K. So, thinking PJs are on the sideline for "free" is preposterous. I certainly wouldn't want to pay $400 to have a billboard slapped on me. Our companies shouldn't want to finance this either.

Enough for now,