The end of NFL blackouts
March 24, 2015 1:28 PM   Subscribe

Last fall, the FCC voted unanimously to eliminate its own sports blackout rule. At this week's NFL annual meeting, the league approved a suspension of the rule. The blackout rule, which came into effect if a game was not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff, was enacted in the '70s in order to prevent cable companies from airing events broadcast on local stations.

Other happenings at the annual meeting include the yearly hilarious coach photo, discussion of potential rule changes, and the announcement that one of the league's London games will be broadcast on "a digital platform" for the first time.
posted by everybody had matching towels (34 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wow. Somebody at Comcast must have really pissed off the FCC...
posted by schmod at 1:32 PM on March 24, 2015


discussion of potential rule changes

The rule Indianapolis submitted about being able to take an extra point from the 50 after a 2 point conversion was dumb in a bad way, I thought, but reading about it did cause me to hear about another new idea for 2 point conversions: after a successful one, you're allowed to take only one point and try it again (and, presumably, you can keep doing that as long as you keep making the conversions). That's dumb in a great way and I am entirely in favor of it.
posted by Copronymus at 1:38 PM on March 24, 2015 [6 favorites]


The blackout rule, which came into effect if a game was not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff, was enacted in the '70s in order to prevent cable companies from airing events broadcast on local stations.

There were very few cable systems back then in 1973. It was created to ensure that the stadium sold out because TV revenue was not the huge cash cow it is today and teams relied on ticket sales for revenue.

It had nothing to do with cable.
posted by Ironmouth at 1:39 PM on March 24, 2015 [12 favorites]




The NFL blackout rule was very different than the FCC blackout rule. The NFL blackout rule was to protect ticket sales, and if the home stadium wasn't sold out 72 hours before the game, then the game wouldn't be televised in the home market.

This rule predated cable -- indeed, before 1973, games were blacked out of the home teams market, period, and this was true of even Championship games in the pre Superb Owl era. Back then, ticket revenue was, by far, the biggest revenue source a team had.

What broke that rule was the Washington (Redacted) making the playoffs, and the politicians in Washington, including then president and football fanatic Richard Nixon, were pissed that the couldn't watch the Washington team play at home. That's when the FCC passed their rule with the strong hint that the NFL comply or there might be anti-trust talk.

The rule has become pretty much useless because general seating ticket revenue is a pretty minor part of the revenue stream of an NFL club compared to TV revenue, and most teams consistently sell out anyway. They had already loosened the rules, allowing teams to define what point they were to be called "sold out", even though there were still tickets available.
posted by eriko at 1:43 PM on March 24, 2015 [7 favorites]


How the NFL's blackout rule change affects Steelers fans

That goes on the list of the great "Let's get a local angle on this" stories.
posted by Etrigan at 1:43 PM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


I believe Ironmouth is correct on the purpose of the rule. The change isn't really a big deal now since games are rarely blacked out anymore. When this was discussed on Reddit I was surprised by how many fans had no idea the rule even existed.

The best part of the photo is Hawaiian shirt Andy Reid.
posted by Drinky Die at 1:45 PM on March 24, 2015


The best part of the photo is Hawaiian shirt Andy Reid.

He looked amazing, didn't he? When I worked in the library in college there was a larger gentleman who had a big ole mustache and always wore Hawaiian shirts so he was referred to amongst my select circle as a "Jolly Party Walrus". It is delightful to see that there is a whole tribe of Party Walruses, some jolly, some not.

If you ever checked the microfiche in the Reg at the University of Chicago around 2005, you might have encountered this magnificent fellow. He was really very nice and charming.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 1:54 PM on March 24, 2015 [3 favorites]


Well, should I be holding my breath about these rules as they apply to the NHL?

(It's possible I've snarled out those fucking bastards and blackouts too many times)
posted by lineofsight at 1:57 PM on March 24, 2015 [2 favorites]


How the NFL's blackout rule change affects Steelers fans

First two sentences in the article that links to:

It doesn't. There are too many of them for it to matter.
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:59 PM on March 24, 2015


I remember asking my Tampa Bay dwelling great-uncle, who was on a limited budget and generally unable to drive himself anymore, how the Buccaneers were doing that season. He growled, "I wouldn't know, they won't show the games on the local television so I can't watch."

Incidentally, he no longer lives in Tampa Bay, but I'll count it as a victory for him. Now if college football/ESPN can follow this change...
posted by Atreides at 2:11 PM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


I can't remember where I read it, but the best idea for PATs I've heard is to make the player who actually scored the touchdown kick it.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:13 PM on March 24, 2015 [13 favorites]


Both John Mara and Robert Kraft (owners of the Giants and Patriots respectively, both known for reflecting the attitude of the majority of owners) have spoken about a team moving to Los Angeles in the past few days. And then suddenly the owners announce a one-year suspension of the traditional blackout rule. It's very possible that as the process of building a stadium in Los Angeles moves forward, one or more of the three teams that has been building toward a move (the Rams, Raiders and Chargers) will experience a significant drop in attendance.
posted by graymouser at 2:21 PM on March 24, 2015 [7 favorites]


The best part of the photo everything is Hawaiian shirt Andy Reid.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:27 PM on March 24, 2015 [2 favorites]


If there any information on which teams have been affected (or nearly affected) by the blackout rule in, say, the last 20 years? I can't imagine it happening all that often, except in cities where the NFL team is too new to have established a particularly loyal fan base and is also struggling.
posted by slkinsey at 2:31 PM on March 24, 2015


Very interesting thought, graymouser!
posted by slkinsey at 2:32 PM on March 24, 2015


If there any information on which teams have been affected (or nearly affected) by the blackout rule in, say, the last 20 years?

Wikipedia has this semihelpful list of each market's last blackout. The last two were in 2013 in San Diego and Buffalo. Buffalo has a giant stadium in a small, economically depressed market (also not a great team for the past, like, 15 years) and Buffalo-area congressman Brian Higgins was pretty vocal about ending the FCC blackouts. I don't really know about San Diego.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 2:38 PM on March 24, 2015


The rumor is that the NFL is really pushing for two teams in L.A.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:50 PM on March 24, 2015


A team in LA will have no problem with attendance if they move into a new stadium, but if they spend a year or so in one of the existing facilities there is definitely a chance they don't sell out.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:59 PM on March 24, 2015


"There were very few cable systems back then in 1973."

There were plenty of cable systems in 1973. I grew up in the late 60s and 70s watching cable. Cable was common in small-towns that were far from a broadcaster. For context, HBO began in 1972, went national in 1975, and was in all 50 states by 1980.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:04 PM on March 24, 2015 [2 favorites]


I recall the blackouts hitting the Raiders quite a bit when I first moved here (I arrived at the beginning of 2007/2008 season). The Raiders are also a front-runner for moving to LA given the stadium issues in Oakland.
posted by TwoWordReview at 3:06 PM on March 24, 2015


"Plenty" is kind of a relative term in that context. In those days, cable was hauling limited television content around mountainsides where VHF feared to tread, to audiences that could be tallied, if not on a napkin, still on a very small scale compared to the delivery of broadcast TV in major network markets.

I always envied my West Virginia cousins for being the first to get all those awesome cable stations, little realizing at the time that there was no largesse involved for the cable companies - they were simply the vanguard, building the infrastructural backbone of the greatest social indoctrination delivery system the world has ever known. The NFL is not even the smallest part of that system.
posted by toodleydoodley at 3:28 PM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


One presumes the existence of the Red Zone plays at least a part in this decision too.
posted by ob1quixote at 3:34 PM on March 24, 2015


I was going to mention how Steelers fans are the only reason the Bucs were ever shown on local TV, but it turns out even Steelers fans couldn't keep the Bucs from being blacked out in 2010.
posted by dirigibleman at 3:48 PM on March 24, 2015


Is this something I'd have to live within a 75-mile radius of an NFL team to understand?
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:50 PM on March 24, 2015 [4 favorites]


The territory sizes vary.
posted by Drinky Die at 4:55 PM on March 24, 2015


I don't understand how this rule was supposed to work. So they wanted to increase ticket sales so they had to go to the games or it wouldn't be on TV. So people would go to the games so that they'd be on TV, but then they wouldn't be home to watch it, right? So one set of people is buying tickets while another set of people reap the TV rewards? I guess people who buy tickets could stay home and watch it on TV and just waste the tickets, but that seems silly.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:28 PM on March 24, 2015


They'd go to the games in order to see the games.
posted by Mitheral at 6:21 PM on March 24, 2015 [4 favorites]


I guess people who buy tickets could stay home and watch it on TV and just waste the tickets, but that seems silly.

This sorta happened as recently as last season, when several San Diego businesses bought a shitload of tickets to a Charger game to prevent a blackout.
posted by Etrigan at 6:25 PM on March 24, 2015


Yeah, that's mostly what happened. Often it was the local TV station that would be airing the game that bought them up because it made financial sense for them.
posted by Drinky Die at 6:32 PM on March 24, 2015




Also note Belichick - rockin' them flip flops. He and Reid were ready for the damn margaritas already...
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:05 PM on March 24, 2015


I don't really know about San Diego.

San Diego has blackout threats almost every year; more in years where they're not in contention, fewer in years where they're good. The Chargers have been average or slightly better since Norv's second year as head coach.

The ownership has basically been threatening to leave for over a decade if they don't get a new stadium. They first started bringing it up after the Padres got their new stadium downtown, which was also fairly soon after a huge scandal erupted where the city bought all the unsold tickets for Charger games so that every game was a "sellout", but then the games would still be subject to blackout. They went 1-15 one year under that lease contract, and I'm certain they still carry a tremendous amount of ill will with the general populace after that, along with their constant pushing for a new stadium. Making a deal to share a stadium with the Raiders of all teams was a completely new low.
posted by LionIndex at 8:45 PM on March 24, 2015 [1 favorite]


lineofsight-For NHL Blackouts, look into Hockeystreams.com, I got a 6 month subsciption and may just reup for a year to watch the World Championship.
posted by MrMulan at 8:27 AM on March 25, 2015 [1 favorite]


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