FCC sacks NFL's blackout rule
By Sean Lengell | September 30, 2014 | 12:24 pm
The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday unanimously voted to end the decades-old blackout policy for NFL games and other live sporting events on paid television, a move strongly opposed by the league but one that is poised to give U.S. sports fans more free TV viewing options.
Under the NFL's policy, teams had to enforce TV blackouts for cable and satellite telecasts in the home team's primary media market if at least 85 percent of seats weren’t sold within 72 hours of kickoff, though the league sometimes granted extensions if teams were close to selling out.
The policy originally was meant to ensure that broadcasts of sports games did not hurt local ticket sales. But critics say the policy is obsolete because most NFL games are sellouts and that the league is financially healthy.
The decision means that networks are now free to broadcast home games in the team’s media market regardless of how many tickets are sold.
While the rules apply to all sports leagues, the NFL has been the most high-profile user of TV blackouts.
Several members of Congress have been pressing the FCC to drop the blackout rule, saying it’s not in the public interest.
“The sports blackout rule unfairly harms consumers by punishing fans in cities with large stadiums and declining populations,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “The FCC did the right thing today by removing this antiquated rule, which is no longer justified by facts or simple logic.”
“Even as the NFL made millions upon millions of dollars off of broadcasting rights, they continued as recently as this season to threaten fans with unnecessary blackout restrictions.”
Blumenthal and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have cosponsored legislation that would do away with the 1970s-era rule.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler applauded his fellow commissioners for abandoning the blackout policy.
“For 40 years, these teams have hidden behind a rule of the FCC. No more," he said. "It’s a simple fact, the federal government should not be party to sports teams keeping their fans from viewing the games, period."
The NFL has pushed back at the FCC's proposal to end the rule, saying such a move is unnecessary because there are far fewer blackouts compared with when the rule first was implemented 40 years ago.
"While affecting very few games the past decade, the blackout rule is very important in supporting NFL stadiums and the ability of NFL clubs to sell tickets and keeping our games attractive as television programming with large crowds," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said last year.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/fcc-sacks-nfls-blackout-rule/article/2554152
