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NFL Blackouts October 20, 2009

Posted by jghager in : Uncategorized , trackback
Despite slumping ticket sales in many cities, the NFL has decided to keep its blackout rules in place for the 2009-10 season. The NFL blackout policy does not allow television stations to broadcast games in regions where the game is not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff. Many teams, including Sand Diego and Jacksonville, have stated that they may not sell out a game all season, meaning that people in the Jacksonville region will not see a game all season unless they are in the stadium.The fact of the matter is, this will actually affect very few teams, and 12 NFL teams had all of their home games sold out prior to the season starting. Most of the problems we will see occur are in Detroit, Cincinnati, Oakland, St. Louis, and as mentioned before, Sand Diego and Jacksonville. The original intention of this policy was to increase ticket sales because television made it hard to get people out of their houses and into the stadium. The NFL is the only major professional sport league to have a blackout policy. This is because of the few number of games and major revenue sharing that comes from ticket sales (NFL teams split ticket revenue from games 60/40 in favor of the home team).

There was talk in the NFL offices of dropping the blackout policy because of the economy, with many cities being hit hard where fans would not have the disposable income to buy tickets. I find it hard to believe that if the NFL dropped the policy that they would have had much trouble selling out games in most NFL cities. As we noted, only a few of the cities look to be having blackout problems, with most of them being the cities hit hardest by the economic downturn. I think that, if anything, the NFL is losing more fans this year by not showing the games than they are gaining by trying to draw people to the stadium. There are certain times when the NFL needs to reevaluate its mission, and while ticket sales may be an important part of the revenue, the league is by no means in any trouble financially, and should put the fans first in this case. Keeping the blackout policy for this season is putting the league before the fans, and harming cities more that have already suffered during the current economic situation.

Random Thoughts:

Monday was one of the best playoff days I have ever seen. First, a great extra-inning game between the Yankees and Angels with the Angels taking their first win of the season. Then, we saw Jimmy Rollins hit a ninth-inning, two-run walk-off triple to put the Phillies up three games to one. I still think we’ll see Yankees-Phillies in the World Series. As a Red Sox fan, I’m always pulling for anyone who knocks-off New York.

The Patriots looked like the team from 2007. Five touchdowns from Brady in the second quarter alone and a 59-0 win. Too soon to say they’re back on track but definitely a good sign going forward. On the other side, how does a team returning 20 of 22 starters start the season winless? Something is wrong in Tennessee and I wouldn’t be surprised to start hearing rumblings of a coaching change.

Stephen Drew to the Red Sox? Do the Sox need another Drew on the team? Still, I like him as a shortstop and think that he could provide some stability that the Red Sox have needed in that position.

Comments»

1. pknox - October 20, 2009

I agree with everything you’re saying…besides the erroneous statements about Tennessee

2. cssr - October 20, 2009

Fox baseball blackouts on Saturdays are so annoying. Especially when you live out of your hometown and pay for the baseball package only to have all games blacked out up until 7pmEST.

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