National Football League

Redskins will offer season ticket holders early injury updates

Published Jul. 20, 2015 1:51 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Joe Lucia

Last week, the Washington Redskins revealed some “enhancements” to the “game day experience” at FedEx Field. The changes seem pretty minor and unlikely to cause much of a stir among fans…but one of them caught my eye. Via Dan Steinberg’s DC Sports Bog…

* Season ticket holders “will be the first to receive in-game player status updates, as well as news of team signings during free agency, trades, draft picks, and other transactions all season long via the Redskins Mobile App – even before the NFL or the media!”

On the surface, this may not seem like a big deal. Reward the fans with some extra information, woohoo!

But the NFL takes this kind of thing very seriously. The Redskins and Bills were fined $20,000 back in 2012 for improper injury updates. Washington’s fine was for not updating the media about Robert Griffin III’s condition during a game, while Buffalo was fined for not listing Mario Williams on the injury report. The Ravens earned a $20,000 fine the same year for not listing Ed Reed on an injury report.

Will the NFL have an issue with the Redskins giving their fans updates before the league and media get updates, even if the fans are only getting a five second or so advantage? It’ll be interesting. Could the league really end up cracking the whip over what could end up being a trivial benefit?

I wouldn’t doubt it for a second – the league has always been very picky about the way teams report injuries, and if one team is doing something differently, it could encourage other teams to do the same. And the more teams that don’t go by the book, the less power and control the NFL has – and we all know how much the NFL loves power and control.

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