NFL Fights To Save TV Blackout Rule Despite $9 Billion Revenue 216
An anonymous reader writes with word of new movement on an old front: namely, the rule that makes it hard for sports fans to see coverage of local teams. The 39-year-old blackout rule basically "prevents games from being televised locally when tickets remain unsold." The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in response to a 2011 petition by consumers, has decided to consider abolishing this rule. The National Football League (NFL) has of course objected, claiming that the rule allows it to keep airing their games on free TV. If that were to change and they would have to move to cable, they argue, the "result would represent a substantial loss of consumer welfare." In their petition to the FCC, consumers point out that the NFL charges "exorbitant prices for tickets" which results in lower attendance. The blackout rule, they claim, therefore punishes fans by preventing them from watching the game if the NFL can't sell enough stadium tickets. NFL yearly profits reportedly number in the billions. Even if the FCC supports the petition, however, sports leagues can and probably will privately negotiate blackouts to boost their revenue.
Re:Punishes fans? (Score:5, Informative)
Toronto is a small city? It's the largest city in Canada and the 4th largest in North America, after Mexico City, New York, and Los Angeles.
Re:Punishes fans? (Score:5, Informative)
Yes. And the best thing for them have done would have been to buy the team and make it a municipal asset in full or in part.
Green Bay, Wisconsin has done exactly that. Their football team is the only community owned professional sports team in the US.
Re:Punishes fans? (Score:2, Informative)
The same thing happened in Dunedin, New Zealand. About 86% of the population were against building a stadium for a city of no more than 120,000 people, so they spent quarter of a billion dollars on it promising it would be paying its own way within a few years.
It's not, it won't, and they keep borrowing millions from the rates of the city.
The local Highlanders rugby team are constantly whinging that they have to pay to use it, even though they're getting a large subsidy and constant gifts of cash - not too many years after they went bankrupt after spending thousands on parties.
Professional sports is a fucking rip-off.
Re:Punishes fans? (Score:4, Informative)
Bzzt! Wrong! Maybe not many folks do, but I sure do. When presented with an opportunity to go I always decline and say that I would rather see it on TV. (Sometimes this has even been with free tickets). At home, there is no a-hole standing up in front of me the whole game. At home, no jackass behind me spills their beer on me. At home, the noise level is very low. At home, I can see the play and can see it from multiple angles with amazing replays. At home, the beer doesn't cost $10. At home, the bathroom is clean and safe and doesn't consist of a long metal trough. At home, I am unlikely to get attacked by some crazy drunk asshole and my car is unlikely to get vandalized. At home, the parking doesn't cost $25. Yeah, I've BEEN to pro football games twice. Never again.