The keys to the whole issue are these: (1) Did all of the schools that broadcasted playoff games seek permission from the UIL to do so and were they granted permission? (2) Were any of those games also broadcasted by either NFHS or Victory+? (3) In the absence of the NDN press broadcast on NFHS, were either NFHS or Victory+ SCHEDULED to broadcast the PNG game (4) Did the UIL actually send a “memo” to PNG, or to any other schools, saying that “academic” broadcasts would no longer be approved for the playoffs and (5) If they sent such a memo to PNG (or to only PNG and a select few other schools), why?
My interpretation of the official info avail on the UIL website was always that the rules for this year were essentially the same as during the last few years: As long as no official UIL partners were broadcasting a playoff game (i.e., NFHS and Victory+ during this year), schools could broadcast that game as long as they requested and received permission from the UIL to do so (with the implication being that such requests would generally be approved as they have been in the past). If the schools that had youtube broadcasts this week all (1) requested and received UIL approval for those broadcasts and (2) neither NFHS or Victory+ was scheduled to broadcast the same game, that would confirm that my interpretation of the current rules was most likely correct. However, that would still call into question the supposed “memo” to PNG suggesting that such requests would NOT be approved, which never made any sense to me based on the contrary info about this issue on the UIL website. So provided that the other broadcasts involved a maintenance of the previous status quo, the question becomes whether the UIL selectively sent such a memo to PNG or to PNG and a handful of other “high profile” schools implying that the rules had changed when in fact they had not changed.