NFL TV Rights Holders Still Seeing Green Amidst Potential Blackouts 11/09/2009 |
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Just two days before the Tennessee Titans visit the Pittsburgh Steelers to kick off the National Football League's 2009 season on NBC, television rights holders are not concerned about potential blackouts of regular season games.
With the challenged economy, stadium sellout levels (as well as season ticket holders) will be down. And with that, under the NFL’s longstanding blackout policy, any NFL game that is not sold out by 72 hours before kickoff has the potential of not being televised in the local market of the home team.
It’s unclear whether the lack of concern is wishful thinking on the part of the networks—CBS, ESPN, NBC, Fox and the NFL’s own NFL Network—or a desire not to rile up the NFL by publicly criticizing the league's unwillingness to change the blackout policy.
CBS and Fox have some leeway, however, because on any given Sunday, the networks televise multiple regional games and can substitute in an out-of-market game if the scheduled local team's game does not sell out. ESPN, NBC and NFL Network, which each televise only one national game per week, may find themselves in more of a bind.
As many as 12 NFL teams will potentially not sell out all of their games this season. Among them are the Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and St. Louis Rams in the National Football Conference; and the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football Conference.
(Source: mediaweek.com)
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