"For future Super Bowls," Goodell said in a Feb. 19 letter to Hatch, "the League will not object to live showings –- regardless of screen size -– of the Super Bowl by a religious organization on a routine and customary basis."

Goodell's reversal settles an issue reported by Baptist Press on Feb. 1, 2007, when the NFL informed a Southern Baptist church in Indianapolis it would run afoul of federal copyright law by showing the Super Bowl on a screen wider than 55 inches. The church, Fall Creek Baptist, cancelled its Super Bowl party. Baptist Press along with The Washington Post also reported on the issue prior to this year's Super Bowl. ...