NFL suspends blackouts for at least one year

[Ramy]

No blackouts for the 2015 season.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/03/23/blackout-policy-suspended/70333894/

 

[Jimbo]

Of course Black Out rates are dropping, if a team is anywhere close to the limit (which I think is actually not a sellout, but something like 80% sold) the NFL grants and extension to allow more time to sell the tickets also many/most times the teams or someone will buy up the tickets and give them to charity.

Now if you REALLY want to look at seeing if teams are actually selling out, instead of going by the ticket being sold, lets go by the number of people actually attending the game, tickets that have been collected when going thru the gate ... that will tell you more about the fans and how much they are willing to put up with, many teams may claim a Sell Out, but you'll find that a large % of No Shows.

 

[TNGTony]

Of course, Mike Brown (Bengals Owner) was the only owner to vote against this. HA! Way to go Mikey. Way to ingratiate yourself to all your loyal fans. You should see some of the local news outlet social media site comments. We all love Mikey...

 

[Poke]

Way overdue.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/NFL-Finally-Suspends-Outdated-Blackout-Rule-133079

 

[Kraven]

Wonder if this will affect online streaming where local games are blacked out.

 

[Ramy]

Merged like threads. I posted the same thing yesterday.

 

[whitewolf8214]

NFL experiments with Web TV; suspends blackout rule
Mar 24 2015, 04:31 ET | By: Yoel Minkoff, SA News Editor

Opening up a new door for the sports-media industry, the NFL has announced it would test placing one football game this season on a national digital platform and not on national television, as a trial effort to understand the market for digital rights.
In another sweeping change, the league has decided to scrap its controversial blackout rule, which prohibits local broadcasts of games if they aren't sold out 72 hours before kickoff, for the 2015 season. http://seekingalpha.com/news/238720...1:cf7542ad88bd25b36f14b7da5ef9d62f#email_link

 

[raoul5788]

Wonder if this will affect online streaming where local games are blacked out.

There weren't any blackouts last year and only two the year before.

 

[Kraven]

Maybe am mistaken... but the online Sunday Ticket doesnt air local market teams?

 

[EarDemon]

Yes, NFL ST online is supposed to adhere to normal Sunday Ticket blackout rules. The games that are available on your locals should not be available to be streamed on NFL ST.

However, a few years ago I found a strange loophole. Not sure if this still works, or if it even worked for anyone else beside me. A few years ago when Verizon was my wireless provider, I had a Moto Droid HD Maxx phone and a Moto Droid Xyboard tablet. Using the NFL Sunday Ticket app on the phone resulted in always being blacked out of local games, no matter the circumstance. With the Xyboard tablet, I'd be blacked out if I used the tablets built in cellular radio, but if I tethered it via wifi tethering from my phone I had no problem accessing games that I was not supposed to be accessing. If I was at home, connected to my normal wifi, as expected I was blacked out as well. Not sure how or why this worked, but I used it the 2 or 3 times I was dragged away from the TV to stream Bills games in the car.