It’s looking like the NFL is about to see some hard times of their own due to the economy. Everybody knew it was coming, and we are seeing the first signs of it as there are 10 to 12 teams that may not sell out every game. This would mean mass local blackouts on TV broadcasts for many supportive fans.
Last season there were only three teams that didn’t sell out games and not surprisingly the list was Oakland, Detroit, and St. Louis. They combined for a total of nine blacked out games last season. I can’t blame any of the fans for not going to those games though, especially since I’m a Raiders fan and value paying to see them as much as going to see “Thunder from Down Under” for a bachelor party in Vegas. Despite the fact that there are about one third of teams finding it difficult to sell out, the blackout rule will stay in effect for it’s 37th straight year. The Jaguars have stated that they may not even sell out one home game all season. Sorry Jacksonville fans, you have to sign up for Direct TV and pay an extra $200 just to watch your local team for those eight games.
Tim Keown explored the reasons why the blackouts are out dated, and only hurt the league. I fully agree, as it deters possible fans that would have to watch the locally televised games. Many times a casual fan that lives in the area is exposed to the local team to the point where they start to follow them. I’ve had that transformation since my move to Southern California about three years ago. I used to root mildly for the Giants as a Northern California resident, but without being able to watch them, I now root for the Dodgers since I see them on TV nearly every day. I definitely never thought that I’d say four years ago when I was living in Northern California surrounded by that media market.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fair weather fan, I’ll always be a fan of the A’s, Raiders, and Warriors which sholuld say enough looking at their track records this past decade. I’ll root for all the Oakland teams no matter where I live, but every sports fan has “other teams” or man crushes on a certain players so we follow them. If they’re in the local media market, they are certainly going to be watched. That won’t happen if eight of a teams games are being blacked out. How can anyone get attached to a player or team that isn’t shoved down your throat? It won’t happen, and that’s why this rule that’s older than Al Davis needs to be changed.
Sometimes we’ve been saved from these blackouts by local companies that will buy up the rest of the tickets, so that the game can be televised. In these uncertain economic times it’s much less likely that companies are going to open up their wallets to get a game televised. Teams that have had no problem selling out all their tickets in the past like the Cheifs, Dolphins, and Jets are struggling to sell tickets, and have noticeably ramped up the promotions to get people out to the games. San Diego, Miami, and Minnesota are on the list of teams that might not sell out all their tickets, and they were all playoff teams last season. If I was jobless, and couldn’t watch my team play on their way to a playoff run I’d be mad. The NFL is still in great shape either way financially, so why not give the fans a break. It’s bad enough that the fans are asked to spend taxpayer money on the ridiculously large stadiums, and they expect people to be okay with them not being on their local programming!
Goodell is too smooth of a talker to be able to trust!
This quote pretty much sums up how much Goodell and the NFL care about the fans that support the game and teams of their home towns.
Sean McManus, president of CBS Sports and CBS News, said last week that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told him that “he is not going to make any major adjustment to a rule that has lasted a long time just because of a short-term economic problem.”
When asked if CBS had concerns about blacked-out games, McManus said, “I don’t think there is any way they are going to change it, so it is pointless to talk to them about it.”
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
September 1st, 2009 at 12:07 pm
That’s a given as far as the NFL is concerned. It’s their prime objective ! That being said, a number of teams this season’ll be blacking out games for sure. And it’s across a number of markets within the NFL.
So what’s next for Goodell and the NFL hierarchy ?
Alan Parkins
September 1st, 2009 at 1:41 pm
That’s a good question! I think if they lose a lot of local markets there’s a chance they’ll look at the rule. I’m sure if they see a spike in advertising, they’ll seriously consider some changes! In our ever shrinking world, they need to keep the local markets happy!
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:23 am
The problem for Goodell at present is that he’s trying to wear far too many hats. And all of them seem to be ill-fitting at present.
Look at the latest mess that there’s now said to be between them and the NFLPA ?
I’ve provided a link below. In order to view just click on the text shown.
This is the last thing that both parties need at present. And that’s to be under investigation by the Feds.
NLFPA confirms US Dept Labor looking into meetings
Having clandestine meetings and then showing privileged information isn’t the light that either party wants to be seen in. Especially when there’s said to be some sort of labor impasse at present.
Alan Parkins
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:12 am
Yeah, it really feels like we’re going to have a lockout in every major sports league. I think Goodell is just the puppet kind of the way all our commissioners are. They are there merely to say the right things to the fans and media. I hope there isn’t a lockout, but there are definitly some things that need to be changed on both sides!
September 10th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I understand that each of the pro sports are first and foremost about making money. But at the same time they’ve also got to take into hand the situation that the vast majority of their patrons now face.
I mean a family four attending any of the four major sports . I doubt that they’ll spend less than $400-00 taking into account ticket prices , concessions and parking. But that seems now to be the norm . Nevermind that much of the time the onfield product is hardly bearable to watch . Especially when it comes to baseball. Have you seen how bad the Pirates , Nationals and Royals are ? My God !
God knows when the shoe is gonna drop as far as the Cowboys’ fans are concerned. At $1.6 billion that stadium may well be magnificent . But in no way is it going to pay off for Jones and his coterie, if the team isn’t successful. And when I last checked they’d yet to win a playoff game this decade.
Alan Parkins
September 10th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Well in all fairness a Pirates, Nationals, or Royals game wouldn’t cost a family of four $400 if they sat in cheap seats, and BBQed or ate before the game. I do agree that football and basketball games can cost quite a bit.
I read in Forbes that the Cowboys are not going to have to worry about money. They generate the fourth most profit in the league, and if they were sold they would be the highest priced franchise. Jerry will have to spend if he wants to keep his team competitive and keep the fans in the seats, and he will.
September 11th, 2009 at 3:26 am
They may well have the fourth highest profits in the league. But consider this how’d you think they’ll be making the finance payments on that edifice they built ?
As to the Pirates , Nationals and Royals they barely survive in terms of an operating profit. If it wasn’t at the largesse of MLB and the revenue sharing those would most definitely cease to exist.
The Cowboys’ stadium wasn’t primarily privately financed. As monies at the taxpayers’ expense were used in the form of bonds & issued incentives . So think about that situation for one minute and see who’s getting the better side of the deal at outset.
The same thing was done in NY to facilitate the of the new Yankees’ stadium and the Mets’ Citi-Field to the tune of $2.35 billion . And in the case of the Yankees it’s built in the poorest borough of the city , where the residents there are amongst lowest paid in terms of avg income nationally- if not also amongst the highest unemployment rate , as well.
Clearly baseball as well Michael Bloomberg have their priorities wrong. It’s always been the consumer who bares the brunt of the financial burden when it comes to the owners. And things’ll no doubt carry on being the same.
Alan Parkins
September 1st, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I’ve never heard of anyone buying tickets to a game to help avert a blackout situation
September 1st, 2009 at 1:07 pm
if I was a Jacksonville car dealship owner, and had my commericals lined up to be on TV…I might buy a thousand tickets if thats what it took to get it on local tv.
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
dyslecix
I for one thought that the cash for clunkers’ deal was over and done with ? Who the hell wants to watch the Jags to begin with ?
You’re better off watching paint dry for all of the good that it’d do you !
Alan Parkins
September 1st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
We need this for a blog post
September 1st, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Pomer, you really need to call me. XXX-XXX-XXXX
September 1st, 2009 at 1:37 pm
gmail needs to get back up
September 1st, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Pomer – Joel…are your cell phones down too?
September 1st, 2009 at 4:21 pm
With a weakening economy, this Black out rule will probably need to be revised.
The economy is getting worse, and non-sellout games will be more common.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:25 pm
[…] NFL’s Blackout Rule! By Steve in the swamps I found an interesting analysis about the NFL’s Blackout rule. […]
September 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
nowadays everybody care about is making money
September 2nd, 2009 at 5:09 am
Was there ever a time when someone who could make money didn’t care about making money? Of course, making a profit (or seeing enormous returns)isn’t the sole agenda or primary motivating factor for every entity that stands to make a buck or a million.
Nevertheless, they still have bills to pay, eh? Scores to settle (no pun intended). Debts to erase. Promises to keep.
I do wonder, though, how much time and paperwork it would take for the relevant parties to implement a (temporary) caveat to address the issues Tim Keown raises. I particularly like the point he makes about: And no matter who your guys are, and what their record is, you want to showcase them as often as possible. Accessibility is key, and television provides the accessibility.
Televised football and at-the-venue football are two totally different experiences. Might some people even prefer the televised to the on-site look and feel?
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:12 am
Yeah, I really liked the Keown article as well! He hit a lot of points that really make you wonder why they don’t change that rule. It’s like the legalization of marijuana over alcohol and cigarettes, it’s just so old of a rule they have to stick by it no matter how many are in favor of it.
I’m sure it’s not an easy process, but in the end I don’t think that many of the people that are watching the games at home are really all that likely to pay to go to the games. I think that you’re probably right with all the big screen TV’s and the comfort of a couch with the ability to change the channel when your team is playing bad are a plus when watching the game at home!
September 1st, 2009 at 9:44 pm
This quote pretty much sums up how much Goodell and the NFL care about the fans that support the game and teams of their home towns.When asked if CBS had concerns about blacked-out games, McManus said, “I don’t think there is any way they are going to change it, so it is pointless to talk to them about it.”
hey but thanks for post
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:36 am
[…] SOURCE Categories: Techkrunch Tags: about, blacked out, Cares, Chargers, Cheifs, Direct TV, Does, Dolphins, economy, football, games, Jaguars, lions, Making, Money, NFL, raiders, Rams, Really, Roger Goodell, sold out, sports, Techkrunch, Why Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) Leave a comment Trackback […]
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:07 am
I heard about someone buying tickets so a San Diego local game could be broadcast. I forget the details. It was years ago.
The NFL is a business. It’s not about your team winning and losing. Some teams care more about it than others. If a team with a losing record still makes a profit, bottom line: That is considered a good year.
That’s mainly why I no longer give a flying crap about what happens in the NFL or any other professional sports league. You wouldn’t find me paying $100 for parking and outrageous ticket prices to go to the stadium to see Nokia vs. Qualcomm. It’s just a business. Hell, the players I like on my team won’t even be there tomorrow, so why should I care about them, either?
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:37 am
Yeah, it happens a lot for the Raiders actually. I fully agree that some teams completely take advantage of whatever they can as winning isn’t always everything to the owners. I think there needs to be a couple of consecutive years like this for them to feel if financially, but if we do continue in this economic climate, there needs to be a change to the way it’s being blocked out from local markets! It’s telling fans to root for the Cowboys or Giants, who are always on anyways…
September 2nd, 2009 at 11:29 am
Chappy
Just dropped this piece concerning the NFL and Goodell in particular.
In order to view just click on the text shown .
It’s Still The Economy …. But You’re Not Stupid
Alan Parkins
September 4th, 2009 at 9:18 am
[…] wrote my plea for the NFL to change the Blackout rule, because it’s robbing the fans of seeing the home teams play, and further detaches the fair […]