Bye Bye Blackouts? Why The NFL's New Rule Hasn't Changed Anything

Unfortunately, we haven't seen the last of NFL blackouts.

This summer, the NFL seemingly took a step towards eliminating the unpopular blackout policy that denies local fans from seeing any home games that their team doesn't sell out. With news that the league was offering owners the chance to avoid a blackout if they sold just 85 percent of a game's tickets, many fans were relieved to hear that blackouts may be a thing of the past. But when it comes to the revenue of NFL owners, it's never that simple.

A provision in the rule states that teams that take the lower threshold, but then exceed the 85 percent mark, will have to surrender more revenue from those surplus ticket sales to the visiting team. Because of this caveat, every team, except the Buccaneers, has decided to work under the old blackout policy. Cities that suffered blackouts last season, like San Diego and Buffalo, are still at risk of the same this season.

Last week, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wondered that if no teams are taking advantage of the rule change, then why did the owners approve it in the first place? To answer this question, we'll need to take a look back at the history of the NFL's blackout policy.

When the NFL first made it's way onto television screens, all home games were blacked out regardless of whether or not they sold out. Decades before satellite TV emerged and authentic jerseys stuffed the racks of your local Modell's, almost all of a team's revenue came from ticket sales. To artificially drive up the demand and price of those tickets, owners wanted to ensure that the only way for fans to see their team would be to buy their way into the stadium. Indeed, the 1950's NFL brought stories of Giants fans driving up to New Haven to escape the blackout radius and watch their team on hotel room TVs.

The gates partially opened in 1973, when Congress ordered the NFL to lift blackouts for any games that sold out. This was a big win for the fans, but it also shed some light on the struggles of the league. Fifty-three percent of NFL games didn't sell out in 1974, explaining why the owners clung so stubbornly to the blackout rule. That number remained significant all the way into the late '90s, when more than 15 percent of games were still undersold.

However, this past decade has seen a major shift in the NFL's popularity and revenue streams. Its television contracts have skyrocketed and the blackout rate has plummeted to under 10 percent since 2006. The old blackout policy has gone from a necessary tool to keep the league alive, to a luxury that still allows owners to coerce their local fans into buying tickets.

So was this new 85 percent blackout threshold the NFL's attempt to change with the times? After 29 years of the status quo, did the owners finally decide to give the fans a break?

No, the league has never been in the business of altruism. Instead, this rule change looks like a half-hearted attempt to once again escape pressure from Congress.

Back in February, Tampa Congressman (and fellow Greek) Gus Bilirakis asked Roger Goodell to eliminate the blackout policy. When the NFL introduced the 85 percent clause, it was met with approval from Buffalo Congressman Bill Higgins. But even at the time, Higgins realized that teams had to also choose to take advantage of the rule change. As we are seeing, the owners are declining to do so. They'd rather stick to their decades-old mechanism that allows them to drive up demand for their product without lowering prices.

I believe the NFL realizes that the blackout rule is antiquated and no longer critical to keeping its business alive. And the owners know that Congress will not continue to allow them to keep penalizing the same taxpayers who fund their new stadiums. But old habits die hard. The owners would like to keep the blackout policy in place as long as possible. When Congress realizes that the new 85 percent rule is little more than lip service from the NFL, they'll apply more pressure and eliminate blackouts for good. Unfortunately for many fans, that day won't come this season.

I'll post every Wednesday and Friday until training camps kick off. In the meantime, follow my daily NFL-related musings at @BostonGiant. 

Image found here.