blackouts
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Senators warn NFL about resisting blackout policy changes
Despite the FCC voting to repeal the NFL's decades-old blackout protection, the league still has the power to include sellout provisions in TV contracts. However, if it chooses to do so, a pair of US Senators warn that it could lose its antitrust exemption and tax benefits. In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday, Senators John McCain and Richard Blumenthal urge the league to end the policy that's "no longer justified in today's environment" by nixing "rules that punish those same fans." The Senators have already introduced a bill that ties the NFL's perks to its complete elimination of the blackout rules in last year's Furthering Access and Networks for Sports (FANS) Act. "If the NFL fails to show leadership to finally end blackouts once and for all, Congress will be forced to act," the letter continues. It'll certainly be interesting to see how Goodell reacts, but he's got his hands full with a load of other issues, too. [Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]
MLB hopes to ease blackouts on streaming local games
With MLB.tv, Major League Baseball's subscription-based streaming option, your local team's home games are blacked out due to TV and/or cable deals. That could change as early as next season though, as Bob Bowman, the league's head of Advanced Media, expects a revised online viewing agreement soon with broadcasters and teams. Networks pay millions for the rights to beam the action into living rooms, so we'd surmise there's quite a sum of money to discuss. When the restrictions are lifted, you'll likely need a cable plan to access those games -- just like FOX required for the All-Star Game this summer and ESPN does for its streaming option. [Photo credit: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images]
HDTV to blame for possible NFL playoff blackouts?
The NFL may need to rethink blackout rules in the face of swank HDTV setups and tanking economy. Word is Arizona and Minnesota are both under the gun for possible local TV blackouts of playoff games if enough tickets aren't sold this afternoon. Breaking a string of sellouts for the 0-16 Lions is one thing, being 8,000 tickets short as the Vikings were or 3,700 out for the Cardinals at last count yesterday could leave flat screens dark in the Twin Cities and Tempe this weekend. C'mon folks, someone is going to have to actually go to the game, should we start drawing straws?Read - Arizona gets another blackout deadline extensionRead - Vikings face possible blackout; thousands of playoff tickets still up for grabs