There was a time when the NFL blacked out all home games, whether they were sold out or not, to encourage ticket sales. This changed after the 1972 season when the Washington team was blacked out during their sold-out playoff run (yep, they even blacked out the playoffs). Because, as usual, frequently nothing happens on the Federal level if it doesn't directly affect the Washington area, the Feds passed the law prohibiting home-team blackouts when teams sold out their facility at least 72 hours prior to the start of the contest. The argument was that to prohibit broadcast of an event was not in the public interest. That's the law that has remained in effect today.
My reference to the NHL was that the Chicago Blackhawks (then owned by the cheap-and-thankfully-now-dead Bill Wirtz), was (to my knowledge) the only non-NFL that used that law to black out home games, including network-aired contests, if the games weren't sold out. Every other blackout rule you know of is negotiated by league/teams and broadcasters, and have nothing to do with this law. The number of NFL games blacked out has dropped significantly over the years. The NFL has even offered to lower their standards to lift blackouts (though it's been reported that teams have opted to take the blackout over the financial cost of taking advantage). So the law as written is pointless today. The reasonable question to ask of the acting Chairwoman is whether the Commission is interested in looking at the situation today with these other blackout rules (probably the two most onerous being Fox's Saturday baseball blackout rules and MLB's bizarre home market map<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/MLB_Blackout_Areas.png> which makes the entire state of Iowa part of the home market of one-fifth of the league and extends "home market" to distances of 500 miles or more) and whether they are part of "the public interest" or if they simply decide it's just the free market at work. Hint: if they were really serious, they'd just need to utter two words: "antitrust exemption". On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 2:25 PM, Doug Fields <[email protected]> wrote: > Nope…upon further research, it appears I was on the right track after all. > > > > > http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/01/us-usa-broadcasting-blackout-idUSBRE9A00ZW20131101 > > > > Doug Fields > > Tampa, FL > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *Doug Fields > *Sent:* Monday, November 04, 2013 3:22 PM > > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* RE: [TV orNotTV] FCC considering eliminating sports blackout > rules > > > > Hmmm…now that I read back over this thread, maybe we **are** talking > about two different things. I’m specifically talking about the NFL’s > blackout rule. I’m not aware of any rules affecting the broadcast of the > home games of any of the other major sports. > > > > DF > > > > *From:* [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]<[email protected]>] > *On Behalf Of *Doug Fields > *Sent:* Monday, November 04, 2013 3:12 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* RE: [TV orNotTV] FCC considering eliminating sports blackout > rules > > > > Could we possibly be talking about two different things? There is no rule > **prohibiting** blacking out home games. The rule **requires** home > games be blacked out, unless 85% or more of the stadium’s seats are sold 72 > hours prior to game time. > > > > Doug Fields > > Tampa, FL > > > > *From:* [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]<[email protected]>] > *On Behalf Of *Joe Hass > *Sent:* Monday, November 04, 2013 2:31 PM > *To:* TV Or Not TV > *Subject:* Re: [TV orNotTV] FCC considering eliminating sports blackout > rules > > > > On Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 12:33 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I'd like to hear even one example (even a far-fetched one) of how the > blackout rules have ever been "in the public interest." > > > > I'd say the initial idea when the rule was creating: that prohibiting > blacking out home games in their own market allowed fans of all types to be > able to see the games, even if they couldn't afford the tickets. Given the > amount of money that communities give towards the building of these > facilities*, they become de facto in the public interest. Even Dollar Bill > Wirtz would let the very-rare sold-out Blackhawks games air. > > > > That said, the rule is now utterly obsolete. Now the question becomes > "does the FCC consider OTA broadcasts part of being in the public interest, > especially in markets (as discussed in these parts earlier) that do not > have any non-network or cable OTA broadcasts?" That's where the battle > between free markets and public interests comes back into play. > > > > * I'm aware this fact could launch into its own discussion that could > raise my blood pressure, for which I will simply state this fact and > continue. > > . > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
