D.T. Goes Off: Sick of Blackout Rules (Nov 7, 2006)

On some weeks and cities, we the fans of the NFL on TV are both blessed and cursed with the prescence of an NFL football team franchise in our television market. When a team sells out, we get two games on one network and one on another, but when there is no blackout during the Sunday day time periods (for the 1pm games in San Diego), then each network can air just one game in the market, with no two games starting at the same time on the CBS and Fox affilliates.

The NFL arbitrarily chooses which games can and cannot air in the San Diego market and what affillite may air what games in what time slot. Who knows for sure which games we can see on free TV and which ones we can't? Sometimes, we can get a good game, and sometimes we're stuck with a clunker matchup the affilliate has no control over.

Here's some NFL television rules as I understand it.

Rule Number One: If the home team is playing at home, and does not sell out by 72 hours prior to game time, then the local affiliates cannot show this game. This makes sense as people should be motivated to bother going to the stadium, shell out some money, and root for their home team. If you're a shut-in and can't stand the often rude people in the stadium, then you're otherwise out of luck.

Rule Number Two: If the home team is playing at home and manages to sell out prior to 72 hours prior to game time, and the local affiliate shows the game, no other NFL games can be shown on other channels while the home team game is on. OK, so we don't get a clunker on another network at the same time, but what if the other network is showing a doubleheader? We don't get to see the second game in this market. That's not fair, and if the game doesn't sell out, we still don't get the doubleheader on the other network, instead, we get another regional game the NFL chooses for the affilliate on the same network and timeslot to air. In other words, we get one game on Fox, and one game on CBS, instead of one doubleheader on one network and a Charger (or other regional) game on the opposing network. Totally stupid rule don't you think?

Case in point: CBS gets a Charger game in the afternoon at 1pm, and it's Fox's turn to show a double-header nationwide, but with the NFL blackout and other restrictions policy, Fox channel 6 can air just the 10am game and not the 1:15pm game, which is opposite the timeslot that the Chargers (or another regional game if the Charger game does not sell out) at 1pm on CBS channel 8.

The television stations that can and cannot air NFL games affected by the blackout vary from city to city, but a few weeks ago when the same case San Diego was affected by the television blackout rule, Fox channel 11 in Los Angeles gets to air the doubleheader.

In the case where one network gets a doubleheader and it gets the home team game playing locally, they can show two games regardless of whether the local team sells out or not, but cannot air the local team if that team didn't sell out in time, in which case, it would air another regioual game. The opposing network affilliate airs a game that's not on at a time when the local team is playing in the market.

Case in point: Fox gets to show a doubleheader, and San Francisco (NFC) is visiting the Chargers (AFC). If that game didn't sell out, Fox would have shown another regional game. CBS airs a game in the time slot not opposite the time the Chargers are playing locally, usually a 10am game in the San Diego market.

From Wikipedia: In the NFL, any broadcaster that has a signal that hits any area within a 75-mile (120 km) radius of an NFL stadium may only broadcast a game if that game is a road game, or if the game completely sells-out 72 hours or more before the start time for the game. If sold out in less than 72 hours, or is close to being sold out by the deadline, the team can request a time extension. Futhermore, broadcasters with NFL contracts are required to show their markets' road games. If blacked out, the broadcaster will air other programming, usually an alternate football game, instead. If it is a cable channel, like ESPN, the channel's signal will be blocked from the area. If the blackout rule affects NBC's Sunday night game, then NBC 7/39 would have to show alternate programming since there are no other NFL games for the station to air in that timeslot.

Another policy to ensure a filled up stadium is that no other NFL games can air on local TV at the same time as a team's home game in the club's primary market. This is to prevent ticket holders from opting to watch the other locally televised NFL game instead of showing up at the stadium. Thus when a team's home game is on the network showing a single game, the network televising the doubleheader can only broadcast one game into that club's primary market; instead of showing a second game in the same time slot as the home game, the doubleheader network's local station must broadcast alternative programming (often movies or infomercials). When the doubleheader network has a team's home game, the other station might air whatever programming will air on that network's other affiliates before or after their one scheduled NFL game (CBS and FOX sometimes air bull-riding or other taped sports programming in the non-NFL timeslot).

So, the channels that do not have the rights to the home team's game cannot show another game at the same time, even if the home team's game is blacked out. As a result, say the Chargers are playing locally at the 1pm start, and if the home team's game is a Sunday day game that is on the network that does not have a doubleheader that day, the network that does have a doubleheader can show only one game. So if Fox has a doubleheader, and CBS has one game and they have a home Charger game, the CBS channel 8 can show either the Charger game or another regional game at 1pm, while Fox channel 6 airs a 10am game but not the 1:15 game.

In addition, if the local team's game is scheduled to be on the network with the doubleheader that day but the game is blacked out, that network can air only one game that day. (Until 2001, this rule applied whether or not the game was blacked out.) If the game sells out, then the network that has the doubleheader can air both games. So if CBS Channel 8 gets the doubleheader and Fox gets one game, Fox will usually air the 10am game but none of the 1pm games, and Channel 8 can air a 10am game if the 1:15pm Charger game sells out, else, channel 8 airs just the 1:15 game.

Usually, but not always, when each network can show only one game each in a market, the two stations work out between themselves which will show an early game and which will show a late game. This only affects the primary market, and not markets in a 75 mile radius, which always get a doubleheader each Sunday. In some cases when the Chargers don't sell out, Fox 6 and CBS 8 would have to decide between themselves which games among those that they can air are the most interest to the viewers, and in the case where the Chargers would have aired on the network affilliate that had the team that week, it's possible that the opposing network affilliate would air the game opposite the Charger game and the network affilliate that can't air the Chargers opted for the game in the other timeslot.

Example: CBS gets the Chargers at 1pm or 1:15pm, but is blacked out in San Diego, so CBS affilliate 8 can't air the game. CBS is airing a hot NFL matchup at 10am, but Fox is also airing another hot matchup at 10am, while lesser intesting games air at 1pm and 1:15pm. CBS 8 and Fox 6 cannot show an NFL game at the same time in this case. CBS 8 would usually air another regional game at 1pm or 1:15pm and Fox 6 shows a 10am game, but if the early game on CBS and a late game on Fox are both interesting to the San Diego market, then Fox 6 and CBS 8 could switch the timeslots they can air an NFL game, so that CBS 8 gets an early game and Fox 6 gets a late game.

Kind of confusing, isn't it? Let's get this blackout rule fixed and let both networks air doubleheaders each week. The NFL can keep the blackout rule applied to unsold local team games on NFL Sunday Ticket, as well as the local affilliates. If the local team does not sell out, simply don't allow the network affillite that would have aired the home team game air any other NFL game. Here's what I would like with this rule: if Channel 8 can't air the Charger game and be stuck with local programming, and Fox airs a game, then Channel 8 would have to get off of their butts and promote the heck out of selling tickets to the Charger games, even to the point of offering free advertising time on Channel 8 for the Chargers in order to motivate the locals to sell out the game and the network can air the game. Now that would give the station motivation to get the game on the station.