Coldplay 'kiss cam' scandal: Answering questions about camera policies at New York venues

L’Affaire Kiss Cam — in which a CEO and his apparent HR head mistress were caught via Jumbotron screen last week embracing at a Coldplay concert — has caused the internet to convulse and cast a spotlight on a widespread practice at sports stadiums, concert halls and other entertainment venues: a roving camera scanning the sea of spectators for a moment to show to all.

Here are questions and answers about the scandal, the technology and a bit about the practice locally.

What happened last week?

A roving camera at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, appears to have caught what turned out to be philandering executives attending a Coldplay concert while cuddling: Astronomer chief executive Andy Byron, who is married, and his apparent mistress, chief human resources officer Kristin Cabot, who also appears to be married. The two scrambled to hide from the shot when they realized they were the focus. They pulled apart. He ducked away, and she turned around. Reacting to the display, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said: "Either they’re having an affair, or they’re very shy."

What’s the history of the kiss cam?

According to a history published on the news site Deadspin, the origins aren’t exactly clear but date back over four decades to Los Angeles and the Dodgers and what one employee said was the "largest color television in the world."

"The newfangled attraction, which loomed high above left-center field, beamed highlights from the game (but never replays of close or controversial calls), snippets of out-of-town games, musical numbers, crowd shots. Cheering, jumping up and down, kissing — it was all on display," Deadspin reported.

By the 1990s, almost every major sports stadium had one.

What are the roving camera policies at local venues?

Asked about kiss cam, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo wrote in an email: "We do not have one nor have we ever," but declined to put us in touch with whoever operates whatever roving camera it does have: "This isn’t something we’d be interested in." Ditto for the Mets, whose Zachary Weber said: "We are going to pass on this." 

Of all the venues or teams we contacted, only the Long Island Ducks baseball organization was willing to go into detail.

The Ducks have a roving camera at their Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip that captures fan shots, to be beamed to a video board that everyone in the 6,000-maximum-capacity ballpark can see, and footage isn't saved, said general manager Sean Smith.

"We typically don’t do it random, and because it’s a mobile camera with somebody holding it, most people know that they’re gonna be in a shot if, you know, the camera person is standing right in front of them."

The venue doesn’t do a surprise kiss cam, and never has, but there is a Sweethearts of the Game, focused on a couple who's vetted before being featured and are told they’ll be on camera.

"There’s really no surprises or any of that," he said.

Regardless, on attendees’ tickets, and on the team website, a waiver cautions that their likeness and image could be used in photos and videos while in the ballpark.