Game Blackouts

[Internet Warfare 0]

Some were saying that the Raiders game would be blackout out here because it hadn't soldout. What is up with that? Why do they do that?

[MrRant 0]

So you buy a ticket and go see the team.

[BX 0]

If the showed the games on local TV, every stadium would resemble a Cardinals game.

[razazteca 0]

If you live in the area and it does not sell out than it will not be on tv.

[Guest Smues]

I never had to deal with this rule I went to college in Seattle. My freshmen year not one home game was aired because they all failed to sell out. Even the ESPN Sunday game against the Raiders wasn't on. The only good that came out of it was when the CBS games would be blacked out we'd get two local sports guys sitting at a table talking about the game, and bitching about how stupid the rule was.

[Damaramu 0]

What exactly is a blackout? Do they really like block the programming?

Is there any means(legal or illegal) to get around it?

[MrRant 0]

No.

 

You can drive 100 miles out of the market and watch it.

[Der Kommissar 0]

The rule makes no sense to me. I know a few weeks ago they showed the Lions-Chargers game around this area and I would assume that game hadn't sold out. Maybe they decided to show it as payback for people not showing up, instead of showing a real game.

[MrRant 0]

Some times a station/company will buy the rest of the tickets to show a game. I know KIRO has done it once or twice here for Seahawks games.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

It is silly. A game not sold out would indicate that there's not much interest in the product. Logically, the free tv broadcast would create interest in the product, hopefully selling more tickets. Blacking out the broadcast only serves to keep fans away from the product.

[Guest Jimbo]

Or, when the people realize how pathetic their local team is, then they'll even be less inclined to go, especially after seeing how few people are already there anyway as tickets to the game certainly aren't much of a treat to them....

[the max 0]

At least not all games blackout.

 

The Florida Panthers rarely sell out, so all their games would blackout if FSN had that rule.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Its different for different sports. Blackouts are fairly rare outside of football.

[2GOLD 0]

Its different for different sports. Blackouts are fairly rare outside of football.

 

You kidding???

 

I didn't get to watch one ESPN Orioles game as a kid because they would always black them out. Same would go for the Phillies.

 

The Blackout rule in MLB does have one loophole and that is that certain stations are owned by or partnership with the baseball team allowing them to show the games.

 

ESPN isn't a partner with any team so blackout rules still apply to them.

 

CBS has learned that if a NFL game is blacked out that in most cases they will switch to another game instead of showing hours of infomercials.

 

Personally, I always found the rule stupid and I also hate how WSBK in BOSTON is blacked out on me even though I live in DE and have no way of going to the game even if I wanted too.

[King Kamala 0]

I'm glad the Patriots have sold out for six or seven years in a row straight, I never have to worry about that crap. I feel bad for the fans (or lack thereof) of the Arizona Cardinals, they must only see their road games.

[the pinjockey 0]

The blackouts on ESPN are a different animal though. If the local network is broadcasting that game, ESPN will blackout in the local market for that reason. They would only show the game in the local market, if the local station isn't carrying the game. I think that happens a few times a year, depending on how much your team is on nationally.

 

Same reason TBS blacksout during games between the Phillies and the Braves most times.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I never have TBS blocked out. Maybe its my cable supplier, since I'm in the WB/Scranton market instead of Philly.

[the pinjockey 0]

I think, for me, when they are on comcast TBS gets blacked out, but when they are on UPN I get TBS. You are probably outside the 100 mile radius, right? Being in South Jersey, I think I am right on the edge of it.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Its hard to say. It would take over 100 miles to drive there, but a straight line would fall under that.

[Damaramu 0]

*is glad that he doesn't have any local sports teams except for a college team*

Man.......I'm glad Oklahoma doesn't have any professional teams........then again knowing Oklahomans and how fanatic they are about football......we'd have every game sell out.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

It's the legacy of antiquated rules and old paranoia rooted back when television first came along.

 

Back in the day, baseball was THE sport, because it hadn't fucked up yet, so Football was overall less financially viable and a distant #2. (And even the baseball owners were cold to the idea of televised games cutting into their gate as well). Especially before the Colts vs Giants 1958 Championship game that went into overtime [basically pro football's first ***** match]. ( Remember that Super Bowl I was not a sellout crowd. Think about THAT. ) And ticket revenue was basically all your revenue. There weren't NFL shops all over the place selling 6 alternate color jerseys and team logo coffee mugs and other useless crap. You could get that from vendors and concession stands, but those were all INSIDE THE STADIUM and, hence, you still needed people to buy tickets, so the prospect of televised games getting people to stay home in droves might lead to league bankruptcy.

 

So, there's the blackout rule: to keep people in ticket-buying and stadium-attending range from seeing the game until/unless the game is sold out or they themselves have bought a ticket.

 

Why does the rule remain in place in this, the modern era where all the merchandise and video-game licensces increase the overall financial viability of the league and all its teams? DUH. It's a great way to squeeze more money out of the fans. You can keep ticket prices high, charge extortionist fees to park at the game (last time I went to see the 49ers it was $20 just to park in Candlestick's whack-ass parking lot, and that was 6 years ago, who knows what it is now), even work in PSL's and force season ticket holders to fork over for those worthless Preseason Game tickets. This is probably the reason why the sell out deadline is so early in the weeks (what is it, Thursday Night or Friday morning for a Sunday game?) to put added "Buy or else" pressure on the peasants.

 

Instead of "Oh my God, if these games are shown for free on TV people could stop coming to the stadium to buy my product and my team will go out of business!" its now more like "Oh my God, if these games are shown on television people will stay home and watch instead of putting up with my exorbinant ticket prices and the fees to park in my horribly designed parking lot! I may have lower my prices to a FAIR level with this competition! That might prevent me from getting a third Porsche! I can't let this happen!"

 

You get the idea...

[yankovic fan 0]

You could always get the satellite deal where you can watch all the games.

[RepoMan 0]

You could always get the satellite deal where you can watch all the games.

Any team not sold out within 100 miles is still blacked out on the dish.

[Kaertos 0]

Yup, and that blackout on the dish works for all of the "season ticket" programs. I called Time-Warner and asked them about the baseball package because they were having a sale and I could get the whole year for like $100. All I asked was could I get all of the Reds games, when they said no, I said I wasn't interested.

 

I understand the theory behind the blackout on free, nationally televised games. I'm not saying i agree with it, but I understand it. But if I am dropping big cash on a "season ticket" program, I should be able to see any freaking game I like.

[lomasmoney 0]

Yeah nothing was more annoying then the lions pnly selling like 77,000 of an 80,000 seat stadium and no one being able to watch the game. They should put some chip in your tv where you can watch "blackout" Smackdown instead of watching the Tigers lose game #115

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to live where I do. Here in the Poconos, our cable company carries stations from Wilkes-Barre, Philadelphia, AND New York City. So we have Smackdown on two UPN stations, and one of them will always air it if the other doesn't. I also get 162 Phillies and Yankees games, and a selection of Mets and Braves games. And that's before the national broadcasts. The only bad part is that ESPN blacks out Yankees games (as they air on YES). So when watching Yankees games I'm forever trapped by either Michael Kay or Tim McCarver.

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

Some were saying that the Raiders game would be blackout out here because it hadn't soldout. What is up with that? Why do they do that?

Tonight's game will not be blacked out in Oakland. Although the way things are going this year, we wish it would.