# NFL Blackout Rule And The Economy **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 9, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426 "2009-09-09T14:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Piker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@Piker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/61 "2009-09-11T02:12:00Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > It’s business. Who gives a fuck if she’s elderly, she bought something she could not afford. It was stupid and she’s paying the price. Is she really any different than the fools being foreclosed on around the country right now? > > And yes, with an apartment the landlord might not be awarded damages, but they’ll sue for them. I suspect the Redskins won’t be awarded any damages either, but they are going to sue for them. It’s for the courts to decide, there is no difference. If you had read the article, the court already awarded a judgment for the team to the tune of around $65K. So, yeah, they did recover damages. Also, it was a default judgment, meaning of course that she didn’t contest it. Apparently she didn’t have enough assets to cover a lawyer. Funny how the world works. > [@](#): > > I’m supposed to have sympathy for someone who’s had season tickets to the most in demand sporting event in all of sport for 50 years? Really? Do you have sympathy for Bernie Madoff too? Antoine Walker? Lindsay Lohan? OK, again don’t really know what you’re getting after here. Yeah she’s been fortunate, and I now understand that you harbor some substantial ill will towards longtime season-ticket holders. However, that ill will still doesn’t warrant a multi-billion dollar corporation forcing a diehard supporter into bankruptcy simply because they can, especially when that corporation can effortlessly recoup their costs elsewhere. I don’t see much gray area here. Also: most in demand sporting event in _all of sport_? The Redskins? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/62 "2009-09-11T03:12:02Z")
> [@Piker](#): > > If you had read the article, the court already awarded a judgment for the team to the tune of around $65K. So, yeah, they did recover damages. Also, it was a default judgment, meaning of course that she didn’t contest it. Apparently she didn’t have enough assets to cover a lawyer. Funny how the world works. I didn’t read the full article but from the sounds of things this woman’s mistakes are legion. I’m not sure you want to hold her up as the oppressed fan. > [@](#): > > OK, again don’t really know what you’re getting after here. Examples of people who had been extraordinarily fortunate and through horrible choices and business decisions are now destitute. Was it that opaque? > [@](#): > > Yeah she’s been fortunate, and I now understand that you harbor some substantial ill will towards longtime season-ticket holders. However, that ill will still doesn’t warrant a multi-billion dollar corporation forcing a diehard supporter into bankruptcy simply because they can, especially when that corporation can effortlessly recoup their costs elsewhere. I don’t see much gray area here. Not ill will. I’d be one of them if I could afford it. However people with little understanding of the industry, and journalists who should know better, trot out PSLs as examples of unfettered greed. They aren’t and the vast majority of PSL holders make [windfall profits](http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bal-te.sp.ravenspsls25jun25,0,1108763.story) on them and those who who had the first chance to buy them were the sporting equivalent of IPO insiders. Were they as fortunate as the ones in the old days who got to rebuy tickets for nothing besides being there first? No, but they are still very desirable things. Why didn’t this woman sell her PSL on the open market? She could have effortlessly recouped her costs too, but chose not to for some reason. > [@](#): > > Also: most in demand sporting event in _all of sport_? The Redskins? Yeah, that’s the perception. Can’t prove it but it’s the general opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/63 "2009-09-11T04:48:42Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > I agree with Bill Simmons in [his most recent article](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090910) - while the economy may have something to do with lackluster ticket sales, the fact is going to a football game in 2009 simply isn’t fun. TV timeouts result in an awful lot of players standing around doing nothing, getting good seats is almost impossible, traffic sucks, getting gouged on parking sucks, getting gouged on food/drinks sucks, it is just overall a pretty not-fun experience. I usually go once a year, and every time I wonder why. > > Contrast that with staying home, watching games all day, having fast/easy access to my fantasy stats (networks generally are slow at the games cuz of the traffic spike), sleeping in, etc. Or going to a bar with friends, having every game on, cute waitresses bringing you food/drinks… Both of these are far superior alternatives. Why do you think no one goes to baseball games anymore. They sucked even before the economy tanked ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/64 "2009-09-11T19:29:47Z")
No blackout for the Bengals! Thank you to Channel 12 and the Kroger Corporation for buying up the remaining tickets! Whooooooopeeeeeeee!! So happy. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/65 "2009-09-11T19:38:10Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Love of God…I’m either going to have to drive 75 miles to a sports bar somewhere to watch the game, listen to it on the radio, or maybe try an internet stream. > > What do people think about folks that purchase the NFL Sunday Ticket service from Direct TV? Those people get their local game blacked out too. I think it’s total bullshit. You’re essentially buying a ticket to all the games, and you pay a premium price for it, blackout rules shouldn’t apply. > > See, this whole blackout thing wouldn’t be so bad if I could just go to my local watering hole that had the Sunday Ticket and watch it there. But I don’t have that option either. It’s fucking stupid. I have had Sunday ticket for three years, but it got jettisoned this year. When I’m paying for “all the games” FFS I should GET ALL THE GAMES. I follow two teams (Bucs and Browns, have mercy on me) and hence the ticket. But I was tired of 1/2 the games I wanted to see being on local SD feeds or blacked out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/66 "2009-09-11T19:49:36Z")
Don’t worry, Bucs’ll be 8-8 this year. We’re actually doing quite well over the last five years considering we’re $40 million under the cap every year because Man United is losing the Glazers $40 million a year. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/67 "2009-09-11T20:33:24Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Why do you think no one goes to baseball games anymore. They sucked even before the economy tanked While MLB attendance in 2009 in down 2,200 per game, it is still a healthy 30,166 per game, with total attendance over 63 million. No one goes to games? 63M seems a lot higher than nothing to me. 😃 [Cite](http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/current_attendance.shtml) The real question is total gate receipts, not attendance, of course. What those figures are, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/68 "2009-09-12T00:04:01Z")
> [@clnilsen](#): > > I have had Sunday ticket for three years, but it got jettisoned this year. When I’m paying for “all the games” FFS I should GET ALL THE GAMES. I follow two teams (Bucs and Browns, have mercy on me) and hence the ticket. But I was tired of 1/2 the games I wanted to see being on local SD feeds or blacked out. I agree with you. I can understand local blackouts on network TV, even if I hate them, but if you spend the money for NFL Ticket or whatever it’s called, you should be exempt from local blackouts. It’s essentially buying a ticket to every game. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/69 "2009-09-12T00:12:06Z")
I think you should be able to pay an additional fee to watch a blacked out game. Like, let’s say you live in Jacksonville and want to watch the game. For, say, $20, you could order it via an On Demand channel or something. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/70 "2009-09-12T01:28:35Z")
Or you could just move away from Jacksonville, which, let’s face it, is your best option. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/71 "2009-09-12T01:44:45Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I think you should be able to pay an additional fee to watch a blacked out game. Like, let’s say you live in Jacksonville and want to watch the game. For, say, $20, you could order it via an On Demand channel or something. I completely agree. Fans that give the NFL a premium amount of dollars shouldn’t be punished like that. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Or you could just move away from Jacksonville, which, let’s face it, is your best option. OK, my sarcasm meter is detecting a reading… ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/72 "2009-09-18T18:39:10Z")
After watching this week’s Inside the NFL, I call bullshit on the entire blackout controversy. The NFL is expecting around 50 games to be blacked out this season, which is exactly normal. The last few years have been remarkably well sold out, with fewer than 10 blackouts per season. But in the early 2000s, they had 50 blackouts a year every year. We’re not talking way back in the 80s or something; the early friggin’ 2000s! So this level of blackouts is normal, which is something I never once heard in what I can only assume were heavily biased media reports documenting the impending blackouts this season. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/73 "2009-09-18T21:22:14Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > After watching this week’s Inside the NFL, I call bullshit on the entire blackout controversy. The NFL is expecting around 50 games to be blacked out this season, which is exactly normal. The last few years have been remarkably well sold out, with fewer than 10 blackouts per season. But in the early 2000s, they had 50 blackouts a year every year. We’re not talking way back in the 80s or something; the early friggin’ 2000s! > > So this level of blackouts is normal, which is something I never once heard in what I can only assume were heavily biased media reports documenting the impending blackouts this season. Interesting. You’re right…the media has been portraying this as a season full of blackouts like no other. I guess we’ll see as the season unfolds which side is true. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/74 "2009-09-19T18:17:30Z")
The NFL is granting extra day before they declare a blackout. Detroit just got close enough to avoid it. Last year 5 Detroit games were blacked out. But, Detroit is not representative. We have had such a bad product for so long, blackouts should happen every damn week. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/75 "2009-09-20T01:13:39Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > I agree with Bill Simmons in [his most recent article](http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090910) - while the economy may have something to do with lackluster ticket sales, the fact is going to a football game in 2009 simply isn’t fun. TV timeouts result in an awful lot of players standing around doing nothing, getting good seats is almost impossible, traffic sucks, getting gouged on parking sucks, getting gouged on food/drinks sucks, it is just overall a pretty not-fun experience. I usually go once a year, and every time I wonder why. > > Contrast that with staying home, watching games all day, having fast/easy access to my fantasy stats (networks generally are slow at the games cuz of the traffic spike), sleeping in, etc. Or going to a bar with friends, having every game on, cute waitresses bringing you food/drinks… Both of these are far superior alternatives. Agreed completely. The NFL made a decision a while ago to have their product be a TV show first and a sporting event second. Now they are reaping what they sowed. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426/76 "2009-09-20T17:12:56Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I didn’t read the full article but from the sounds of things this woman’s mistakes are legion. I’m not sure you want to hold her up as the oppressed fan. > > Examples of people who had been extraordinarily fortunate and through horrible choices and business decisions are now destitute. Was it that opaque? > > Not ill will. I’d be one of them if I could afford it. However people with little understanding of the industry, and journalists who should know better, trot out PSLs as examples of unfettered greed. They aren’t and the vast majority of PSL holders make [windfall profits](http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bal-te.sp.ravenspsls25jun25,0,1108763.story) on them and those who who had the first chance to buy them were the sporting equivalent of IPO insiders. Were they as fortunate as the ones in the old days who got to rebuy tickets for nothing besides being there first? No, but they are still very desirable things. > > Why didn’t this woman sell her PSL on the open market? She could have effortlessly recouped her costs too, but chose not to for some reason. > > Yeah, that’s the perception. Can’t prove it but it’s the general opinion. It will take about 30 seconds for the Skins to resell those seats. They have a huge waiting list. They have no damages. They sue her for a bunch and collect. Then sell the tickets and make out again. That is a suck/suck for the fans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-blackout-rule-and-the-economy/509426.md?page=3)