by Dennis Copson

Created on: August 15, 2009

Is the National Football League Making a Big Mistake Enforcing Their 'Blackout Policy' in Hard Times?

I was shocked to hear that the Saturday night, August 15th, preseason game between my local San Diego Chargers and the visiting Seattle Seahawks had become a victim of the National Football League's 'blackout policy'. It did not sell out is the given reason.

Hogwash! The real reason is plain old greed. The NFL's object is to punish the home crowd if they do not show enough loyalty to buy all tickets to an NFL game, exhibition season or not! (The NFL has put out guidance that these games are to be referred to by all announcers and media persons as 'preseason' games and not the more truthful description of them as 'exhibition' football where the regular players are seldom seen. Instead, these games are 'tryouts' for rookies and unsigned free agents pricey for what you pay to see, a 'real' football game.)

The NFL's policy on televising local games not sellouts reads as follows: To ensure an NFL club's ability to sell all of its game tickets, and to make televised games more attractive to viewers through the presence of sellout crowds, the following policy is observed by the NFL: For a home game to be aired locally in the franchised market and in any secondary blackout market(s), the game must be sold out 72 hours in advance of kickoff. If the game is not a sellout by the 72 hour cutoff, both the home franchised market and the secondary markets of the carrying network will air an alternate game.

Time was that season ticket buyers were given these 'exhibition' type games at no cost as a reward for buying a season ticket package. Not anymore as these faithful supporters must also buy at full price the two home games of each team's 'preseason' as part of the deal. This amounts to tens of millions of dollars in extra revenue for the NFL.

Jim Steeg, a San Diego Charger front office official, explains the slowdown in ticket sales overall and the preseason dilemma as an economic problem vice one of a lack of fan enthusiasm for the game. "I think we're just not immune to it," Steeg said. "We're sitting here in San Diego, with the U.S. economy, the California economy, the housing bubble, all that sort of stuff that we've got the eye of the storm here. That's really what it comes down to."

The NFL is committing an egregious public relations gaff in pursuing this policy in these difficult economic times when so many are hurting money-wise and simply

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