NFL lightens up on blackout rules

[Rudi]

Team owners have passed a resolution that starting this season will allow for local broadcasts of NFL games even when as few as 85% of tickets are sold. Under the new rule, each team has more flexibility to establish its own seat-sales benchmark as long as it is 85% or higher. To discourage teams from setting easy benchmarks, teams will be forced to share more of the revenue when they exceed it.

SOURCE: SBNation

This is awesome for a Bengals fan

[Derrville]

Do blackouts really happen?

[EmpireWF]

Do blackouts really happen?

Yes, but in Cincinnati or some shit.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Do blackouts really happen?

Don't be cocky because you were a ten year old front runner when Aikman & Emmitt were winning Super Bowls.

Anyway, I have been critical of the NFL and their dangerous flirtation with overexposure over the last couple of years, but the league has made two great moves recently.

One, Sunday Ticket, which was flirting with the absurdity of a $500 price tag, has been rolled back to 2001 prices ($199). Looking back, i'm embarrassed I shelled out the $419 or whatever it was last season for a product that probably isn't even worth half, considering it only airs 17 days out of the year. The MLB, NBA, and NHL packages give you games every day for half the price. The NFL has already priced the average Joe out of stadiums, it's good to see them throw the middle class fan a bone here.

Two, the looser black out restrictions are great news. Not showing the games in Jacksonville, and Cincy, and TB, and SD, is probably not the best way to create fans and entice people to buy tickets. Let people watch the damn games.

[ZoneBlitz]

I have been critical of the NFL and their dangerous flirtation with overexposure over the last couple of years.

followed by...

i'm embarrassed I shelled out the $419 or whatever it was last season for a product that probably isn't even worth half, considering it only airs 17 days out of the year. The MLB, NBA, and NHL packages give you games every day

[Maynard]

lol...wouldnt overexposure include a reduced cost on sunday ticket

[PP]

Personally I think black out restrictions are stupid. Were they set up as a way to punish fans for not buying over-priced tickets?

[Maynard]

its just a cheap way for owners to make their money. back in the 80/90ies, Art Modell would call browns games blackouts. they would sell 70000 tickets and it would still be a blackout

cheap fucking bastard

[Warner2BruceTD]

lol...wouldnt overexposure include a reduced cost on sunday ticket

No, overexposure is slowly moving towards running games every day of the week, and television partners like ESPN who have a billion hours of programming dedicated to your league, even during the offseason.

Reducing the cost of Sunday Ticket, which airs games during the traditional Sunday afternoon time slot, makes your product more accessable to hardcore fans.

[Warner2BruceTD]

followed by...

Those packages are for hardcore fans.

And if you want to argue overexposure, check the regular season ratings of the leagues that run every day compared to the NFL, who up until recently was a two day per week sport. The NFL is dangerously walking the line with their slow expansion on TV, and should look at those leagues as the guide.

[Aso]

I'm pretty sure during the Raiders almost decade long streak of losing seasons they had frequent blackouts. I don't live in that area but I heard about it quite a lot.

[Leftwich]

lol...wouldnt overexposure include a reduced cost on sunday ticket

This post is so retarded.

It's just common fucking sense to lower the cost.

[Tengo Juego]

I got an ad in the mail today that said Sunday ticket is included with DirectTV. Does that apply to new customers only? Or existing, as well?

[Warner2BruceTD]

I got an ad in the mail today that said Sunday ticket is included with DirectTV. Does that apply to new customers only? Or existing, as well?

new

[Hasselbeck]

I re-joined DirecTV and they gave it to me for free .. I was only a cancelled subscriber for 4 months.

That said, this is a great thing for the league. Blackouts are stupid and W2B pretty much nailed the reasons why.