FCC considers lifting NFL blackout restrictions
NFL fans and teams frustrated for decades by TV blackouts in local markets may soon start cheering in unison if the Federal Communications Commission does away with them.
In a story first reported by the Buffalo News and subsequently picked up by ProFootballTalk.com, the FCC has proposed elimination of the NFL's blackout rule.
"Changes in the marketplace have raised questions about whether these rules are still in the public interest, particularly at a time when high ticket prices and the economy make it difficult for many sports fans to attend games," said FCC acting chairwoman Mignon L. Clyburn.
The NFL is still reviewing the FCC's suggestion.
"But it is worth noting that there have been no local TV blackouts of NFL home games through the first 133 games of the 2013 season," league spokesman Greg Aiello added."
According to long-standing rules and in most cases, unless 85 percent of all non-premium tickets are sold three days preceding a home game, the game is not allowed to be carried on TV in that local market.
For example, if 85 percent of the non-premium tickets for Sunday's Falcons-Panthers game in Charlotte were not sold by Noon this past Thursday, the game would not be televised in the Charlotte area.
The FCC has been considering lifting the blackout ban for nearly two years, even though the NFL has voiced concern, claiming that the blackout rule helps keep games on free television.
The ban has existed since the early 1970s under the administration of then-President Richard M. Nixon.
Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) proposed earlier this year that blackouts be banned in stadiums that were funded in whole or partly by taxpayer money.
