NFL Blackout Rule Suspended for 2015 (1 Viewer)

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=12545081

It's about time. Hopefully this also means no longer blacking out the doubleheader game on the opposite network of a local home game.

 

[cstu]

NFL suspends long-standing TV blackout policy for 2015

Reuters

By Steve Ginsburg 2 hours ago

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By Steve Ginsburg

(Reuters) - The National Football League voted on Monday to suspend its long-standing television blackout policy for at least the 2015 season.

NFL teams voted for a one-year suspension of the blackout policy for both the upcoming preseason and regular season, the league said in a release.

The policy, created in the 1970s to promote ticket sales and unpopular with many fans, had specified that for a home game to be aired in the local market, it must be sold out 72 hours in advance of the kickoff.

In 2010, 10 percent of NFL games were blacked out, but there were no games kept off local television in 2014 and only two in 2013.

Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said the NFL's decision "is a victory for the millions of sports fans and consumers across the country, and it brings us one step closer to eliminating this anti-fan measure once and for all.

"This antiquated, anti-consumer rule has for too long served only to protect the NFL’s bottom line at the expense of sports fans."

Blumenthal and Arizona Republican Senator John McCain introduced legislation in 2013 to permanently eliminate the blackout rule.

The Federal Communications Commission voted last year to eliminate its sports blackout rules, but the action did not affect the NFL's ability to enforce the policy because it only removed the role regulators played in enforcing the blackouts.

In 1975, 59 percent of NFL games were blacked out, but that percentage has dropped considerably, reaching double-digits only once in the last decade.

The NFL said it would evaluate the impact of the suspension following the 2015 season after the vote on Monday by its Finance and Broadcast committees.

 

[32 Counter Pass]

Prolly a test run of plans to offer all games online...

 

[Sebowski]

The local radio in San Diego thinks it is to take publicity off when the Chargers, Raiders, and Rams have lots of unsold seats due to the thought they are lame ducks in their town. I've heard different variations on that around town anyway.

 

[BassNBrew]

Goodell should be fired over this.

 

[JaxBill]

Strangely, the Bills/Jaguars game in London won't be on TV, outside of the Buffalo and Jacksonville markets. It'll be withheld from Sunday Ticket subscribers too. It'll only be available as an online stream.

Odd.

Directv can't be happy about this. And now Sunday Ticket subscribers get less for their money.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The Federal Communications Commission voted last year to eliminate its sports blackout rules, but the action did not affect the NFL's ability to enforce the policy because it only removed the role regulators played in enforcing the blackouts.

What the hell does the FCC have to do with this? It's up to a league and its network to decide this.

The NFL also announced it will stream the Oct. 25 game in London between Buffalo and Jacksonville on its website for free globally. The experiment, which will start at 9:30 a.m. ET, means the game won't be shown on television outside of the local teams' markets.

Wow, Roger is really something. So he gradually moves us all to cable including NFLN.... now he will sell our market elsewhere. What a treat being sold like cattle, can't wait for the next move here.

 

[msommer]

The NFL also announced it will stream the Oct. 25 game in London between Buffalo and Jacksonville on its website for free globally. The experiment, which will start at 9:30 a.m. ET, means the game won't be shown on television outside of the local teams' markets.

Wow, Roger is really something. So he gradually moves us all to cable including NFLN.... now he will sell our market elsewhere. What a treat being sold like cattle, can't wait for the next move here.

Awesome. Now I can see Jax-Bills from anywhere in the world with decent internet speed.

If I want to.

 

[mquinnjr]

The NFL also announced it will stream the Oct. 25 game in London between Buffalo and Jacksonville on its website for free globally. The experiment, which will start at 9:30 a.m. ET, means the game won't be shown on television outside of the local teams' markets.

Wow, Roger is really something. So he gradually moves us all to cable including NFLN.... now he will sell our market elsewhere. What a treat being sold like cattle, can't wait for the next move here.

Awesome. Now I can see Jax-Bills from anywhere in the world with decent internet speed.

If I want to.

I just don't get Roger's strategy with this one. "Let's see if there's a market for online game streams", sure that makes sense. But, "And let's test it out with Bills/Jaguars in London" is ridiculous. Who's gonna want to watch two of the bottom-five teams in the game face off at some odd hour? Forget getting it free, I'm not sure I'd watch Bills/Jags if I were being paid to.

Stress testing a future platform that's not hosted by DirecTV with a live, regular season event is where I land my guess with this.

 

[grateful zed]

lets tackle world peace next.

 

[JaxBill]

The NFL also announced it will stream the Oct. 25 game in London between Buffalo and Jacksonville on its website for free globally. The experiment, which will start at 9:30 a.m. ET, means the game won't be shown on television outside of the local teams' markets.

Wow, Roger is really something. So he gradually moves us all to cable including NFLN.... now he will sell our market elsewhere. What a treat being sold like cattle, can't wait for the next move here.

Awesome. Now I can see Jax-Bills from anywhere in the world with decent internet speed.

If I want to.

I just don't get Roger's strategy with this one. "Let's see if there's a market for online game streams", sure that makes sense. But, "And let's test it out with Bills/Jaguars in London" is ridiculous. Who's gonna want to watch two of the bottom-five teams in the game face off at some odd hour? Forget getting it free, I'm not sure I'd watch Bills/Jags if I were being paid to.

Stress testing a future platform that's not hosted by DirecTV with a live, regular season event is where I land my guess with this.

That and getting people used to the concept before they start charging for it.

"Try it - the first one's free."

Also saw somebody (WSJ I think?) opine that the early hour is prime time in China.

Oh and LOL at the righteous indignation that an NFL game is beneath anybody on a fantasy football message board.