Watch Blackout Nfl Games

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Does The Nfl Blackout Games
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Fall is on its way, which can mean only one thing: football is back! Wouldn’t it be nice if you could watch whatever NFL game you want without being subject to the whims of your local cable company, though?

NFL Game Pass Blackout. Blackouts are the worst. Sometimes, local restrictions mean that games can’t be shown live in particular regions, even if the viewer should be allowed access via the app. For example, Game Pass subscribers in the UK can’t watch the two games shown on a Sunday night without waiting for 24 hours. Watch Out of Market NFL Games. Essentially, for the regular season, you have to wait until the 4 pm EST Sunday games are completed before you can watch the 1 pm and 4 pm Sunday games. Any Night games (whether Sunday, Monday, Thursday or Saturday) will be available at the conclusion of the game. Under the NFL's original television blackout rule, which dates back to an act of Congress in 1961 that created the league's current antitrust agreement, home games couldn't be shown on TV stations.

How NFL Streaming Works in the US (and Why It Sucks)

Enjoy every live out-of-market game, every Sunday with NFL SUNDAY TICKET, only on DIRECTV. Get the 2019 season at no extra cost when you switch to DIRECTV today, which includes the exclusive DIRECTV FANTASY ZONE® CHANNEL and the RED ZONE CHANNEL®. Watch all the action on your TV, laptop, tablet, phone, connected device, or game console. Under the NFL's original television blackout rule, which dates back to an act of Congress in 1961 that created the league's current antitrust agreement, home games couldn't be shown on TV stations.

The bad news is that it's only available to Verizon customers, who get to watch all regular-season games for free, but still have to pay extra ($1.99) for the NFL RedZone Channel and the NFL Game. Watch NFL Games and Avoid Blackouts with a VPN. That isn’t the only way to track the progress of your favorite teams. For everyone located outside of the United States and Mexico, the NFL offers Game Pass. The Game Pass service will let you watch a single team’s regular season games for £79.99.

Obviously, if you have access to a cable subscriber’s username and password, you can stream the games from WatchESPN, Fox Sports Go, and NBC Sports. DirectTV subscribers can get NFL Sunday Ticket, as long as you pay an extra $199 ($49.99/month) in addition to what you’re already paying for the satellite service (at least $50/month).

One other option is Amazon’s recently announced partnership with the NFL to stream sone of the games. Unfortunately, this option will only give you a small taste rather than the whole smorgasboard.

RELATED:How to Get HD TV Channels for Free (Without Paying for Cable)

But if you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you don’t have a cable provider (or a friend who’ll let you borrow their password). You can watch a fair amount of games with an over-the-air antenna, but not all of them.

If you’re an avid football fan, though, the NFL offers a subscriber service called Game Pass, which is $99.99 in the US and lets you stream NFL games.

Seems like a pretty good deal until you look at the details. You can’t actually watch live regular season games. Instead, you have to wait until they’re over and watch their replay.

Nobody wants to wait until games over before you can watch them–hushing your friends not to reveal the score, staying off the Internet and social media–that’s no fun.

Unfortunately, those are your only options. The NFL does not offer a way to stream live games in the US with Game Pass, making that $99 “deal” pretty lame. Thankfully, there is a better option.

The Better Option: Watch International Streams with a VPN

Sure, there are probably pirated streams out there, but we can’t endorse them. Not only are they illegal, of course, but they’re typically terrible quality–laggy and stuttery–and highly subject to takedowns during the middle of the broadcast. That’s even more annoying than watching games on replay.

Here’s what we recommend. NFL Game Pass also offers an international option for those outside the US–and that plan can stream games live, all season long. It only allows users outside the US, but there’s a way around that: you can subscribe to the international Game Pass package, and use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) or SmartDNS to spoof your computer’s location.

If you’re in the US, you can also use a VPN to subscribe to an international Game Pass plan. Right now, plans in many areas of Southeast Asia are running $124—nearly $75 cheaper than the regular $199 price.

How This Works

RELATED:How to Choose the Best VPN Service for Your Needs

If you don’t already have a VPN, we suggest you do a little research on one. The concept is simple: a VPN routes all your traffic through servers in another location (say, Europe), so you appear to be browsing from that location. They have far-reaching benefits beyond mere football (such as being able to watch blacked-out sporting events in your area). You can typically find a VPN for a few dollars a month, and they end up paying for themselves over the short term.

We recommend ExpressVPN for its great speeds and ease of use, though if you prefer something with lots of advanced options, StrongVPN is great for power users. But any VPN that has servers outside the US should work for NFL streaming.

You’ll still have to pay for Game Pass (or try their 7-day free trial) and while it’s not cheap, it’s still less than paying for satellite television, Internet, and NFL Sunday Ticket. And, it grants you access to all 256 regular season live broadcasts, the playoffs, and the Super Bowl. That’s a small price to pay for reliable, live NFL streaming.

If that doesn’t fully strike your fancy, consider these extra goodies you get in addition to all that football:

How to Set It Up

Alright, so you’re ready to bite the bullet and sign up for the international version of Game Pass. Here’s how to do it if you’re a US resident.

First, make sure you’re using connected to your VPN or SmartDNS in another country. That means start up your VPN app (either on your computer or your phone), choose a server outside the US, and connect. For our purposes, we connected to a server in Europe.

(You may want to try it from a few different countries, since the price will vary somewhat—and when converted to US dollars, may cost more in some countries than others!)

Next, connect to the Game Pass site. If you’re shown the US version, then try connecting to it in your browser’s private mode. You should see the international version, shown below.

To change the package price to US Dollars, use the dropdown menu in the upper-right corner.

Finally, go ahead and select the Game Pass package and plug in your pertinent user information.

Don’t worry about using a credit card with a US address. Game Pass accepts any credit card, even for the international version, with no problems.

Once you’ve signed up and paid, you’re all set!

Now, as long as you are connected to your VPN in another country, you can watch all 256 regular season games in streaming HD as well as all playoff games and the Super Bowl!

There are a few things you need to remember.

Does The Nfl Blackout Games

First, whenever you want to watch your games, you have to connect to your VPN so it appears you’re overseas. Also, if you want to watch games on your favorite device, that device will also need to be able to connect to your VPN. A lot of VPNs have clients for iOS and Android, so this may or may not be an issue.

If you find that the stream isn’t as good quality as you’d like, try a different VPN server in the same country (or even a different one). Some VPN servers may have better speeds than others. Once you find one that works well, remember it for next time.

And lastly, if you want to watch the game on your TV and you own a Google Chromecast, then you can simply cast the game from your browser or phone.

Hopefully this will satisfy your NFL craving. All told, while $199 (plus the cost of your VPN) may seem like a lot, we think it beats being subject to the whims of broadcast television, paying for DirectTV + NFL Sunday Ticket, or watching a terrible pirated stream.

Getting around restrictions[edit]

Prior to 1973, all games were blacked out in the home city of origin and on any TV stations located within 75 miles of the team's home city, regardless of whether they were sold out. This policy, dating back to the NFL's emerging television years, resulted in home-city blackouts even during sold-out regular-season games and championship games. For instance, the 1958 'Greatest Game Ever Played' between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants was unavailable to viewers in the New York City market despite the sellout at Yankee Stadium (many fans rented hotel rooms or visited friends in areas of Connecticut or Pennsylvania where signals of TV stations carrying the game were available to watch the game on television, a practice that continued for Giants games through 1972). Similarly, all Super Bowl games prior to Super Bowl VII in January 1973 were not televised in the host city's market.

The policy was in effect when, in 1972, the Washington Redskins made the playoffs for only the second time in 27 seasons. Because all home games were blacked-out, politicians – including President Richard Nixon, a devout football fan – were not able to watch their favorite team's home games, as CBS affiliate WTOP-TV was forced to black out the games and carry alternate programming. NFL commissionerPete Rozelle refused to lift the blackout for the NFC Championship Game, despite a plea from United States Attorney GeneralRichard Kleindienst (Nixon watched both 1972 Redskins playoff games from his Western White House in San Clemente, California). Kleindienst went on to suggest that the United States Congress re-evaluate the NFL's antitrust exemption.

Rozelle agreed to lift the blackout for Super Bowl VII on an 'experimental basis', if the game sold-out ten or more days in advance. With the game a sellout, viewers in the Los Angeles area were able to see the NBC telecast of the game. Nonetheless, Congress intervened before the 1973 season anyway, passing Public Law 93-107, which eliminated the blackout of games in the home market so long as the game was sold out by 72 hours before game time.^[1] The league will sometimes change this deadline to 48 hours if there are only a few thousand tickets left to be sold; much more rarely, the NFL will occasionally reduce the deadline to 24 hours in special cases.^[2]

Tickets in premium club sections and luxury suites have been excluded from the blackout rule (indeed modern NFL stadiums have reduced general seating in favor of club seating and luxury suites, as this makes it easier to sell out the stadium and avoid blackouts, and this revenue does not have to be shared with other franchises), as have unused tickets allocated to the visiting team. Alternatively, some NFL teams have arrangements with local television stations or businesses (often sponsors of the team and/or its local broadcasts) to purchase unsold tickets. Teams themselves are allowed to purchase remaining non-premium tickets at 34¢ on the dollar (the portion subject to revenue sharing) to prevent a blackout.^[3]^[4] Teams can also lift the blackout on their own; this has occasionally been done in cases of stormy weather on game days.

The NFL requires that closing off sections be done uniformly for every home game, including playoff games, in a given season. This prevents teams from trying to sell out the entire stadium only when they expect to be able to do so. For instance, the Jacksonville Jaguars closed off a number of sections at their home stadium, EverBank Field, to reduce the number of tickets they would need to sell. EverBank Field is one of the largest venues in the NFL, as it was built to also accommodate the annual Florida-Georgia game and Gator Bowl in college football, and was expanded for Super Bowl XXXIX, even though it draws from one of the smallest markets in the league.

The NFL authorized a new rule loosening the league's blackout restrictions during the 2012 offseason. Under the new rule, for the first time in NFL history, the ticket sales provision no longer requires a stadium to be sold out in order for a game to be televised; instead, teams are allowed to set a benchmark of anywhere from 85% to 100% of the stadium's non-premium seats. Any seats sold beyond that benchmark will be subject to heavier revenue sharing.^[5] While most teams participate in the new blackout rules, four teams – the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers – continue to follow the previous blackout rule, as under the 2012 rule modification, the teams would be required to pay a higher percentage of gate fees to the NFL's revenue fund.^[6]

End of FCC enforcement, temporary suspension[edit]

Until September 2014, the NFL blackout rules were sanctioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which enforced rules requiring cable and satellite providers to not distribute any sports telecast that had been blacked out by a broadcast television station within their market of service. On September 9, 2014, USA Today published an editorial from FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, which stated that he was submitting a proposal to 'get rid of the FCC's blackout rules once and for all', to be voted on by the agency's members on September 30 of that year, declaring such policies to be 'obsolete'.^[7] On September 30, 2014, the Commission voted unanimously to repeal the FCC's blackout rules. However, the removal of these rules are, to an extent, purely symbolic; the NFL can still enforce its blackout policies on a contractual basis with television networks, stations, and service providers – a process made feasible by the large amount of leverage the league places on its media partners.^[8]^[9]

Ultimately, no games would be blacked out at all during the 2014 season.^[10] On March 23, 2015, the NFL's owners voted to suspend the blackout rules for the 2015 NFL season, meaning that all games would be televised in their home markets, regardless of ticket sales.^[10] The suspension continued into the 2016 season; commissioner Roger Goodell stated that the league needed to further investigate the impact of removing the blackout rules before such a change is made permanent.^[11] While the league never explicitly stated such, the blackout suspension has continued into 2019.^[12]

Blackout radius[edit]

The NFL defines a team's market area as 'local' if it is within a 75-mile (121 km) radius of the team's home stadium. Therefore, a blackout affects any market where the terrestrial broadcast signal of an affiliate station, under normal conditions, penetrates into the 75-mile radius. These affiliates are determined before the season, and do not change as the season progresses. Some remote primary media markets, such as Denver and Phoenix, may cover that entire radius, so that the blackout would not affect any other affiliates. However, in some instances, a very tiny portion of a distant city's market area can be within the 75-mile radius of a different city, therefore leading to blackouts well beyond the targeted area.

The most notable example is the blackout of Buffalo Bills games within the Syracuse, New York market because a small section of the town of Italy in Yates County, containing a handful of people, lies within the 75-mile radius of New Era Field (a stadium that has failed to sell out numerous times, mainly due to the harsh winter weather the area receives on the shores of Lake Erie) while the entirety of the remainder of the Syracuse market lies outside of it. Yates County was previously part of the Syracuse DMA (Designated Market Area), but it was later transferred into the Rochester DMA because of exurb expansion with an increasing number of employees working in the immediate Rochester area living in Yates County and traveling to Rochester for events. Despite this, the league still enforced Bills blackouts for Syracuse and, because the Mohawk Valley did not have a CBS affiliate of its own and relied on Syracuse CBS affiliate WTVH to cover that area, the Mohawk Valley DMA as well (despite the fact that no part of that area comes remotely close to the 75-mile threshold); because of this, the Bills' blackout radius extended hundreds of miles beyond the actual stadium, well into Herkimer County. (In 2015, the DT2 subchannel of Utica's NBC affiliate WKTV affiliated with CBS, ending the Mohawk Valley's blackouts; should the blackout rule be reimposed for 2017 and beyond, that market will no longer face blackouts.)

The NFL does allow in some cases for secondary markets to extend beyond the 75 mile radius in part to help draw fans to attend the game. Some of these exceptions are in Charlotte, North Carolina, where many of its secondary markets lie outside the 75 mile radius (Greensboro and Raleigh). Others include San Diego, primarily due to Los Angeles (116 miles (187 km) from San Diego) not having had an NFL team since the 1994 relocation of the Rams to St. Louis (the team would return to Los Angeles for the 2016 season), as southern parts of the Los Angeles market are within San Diego's 75-mile radius.

An exception to the 75-mile rule is the Green Bay Packers' market area, which stretches out to both the Green Bay and Milwaukee television markets (the team's radio flagship station WTMJ is in Milwaukee, and select Packer home games were played in that city until 1994). Unofficially, and to a smaller extent, it also reaches the Escanaba–Marquette, Michigan market due to the presence of translator and satellite stations as well as extended cable coverage of stations from the Green Bay market north into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. However, blackouts at the Packers have never occurred; the Packers' home stadium, Lambeau Field, boasts a five-decade-long streak of sellouts. The Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins also have sellout streaks that predate the current blackout rules, and therefore have not had any of their home games blacked out since 1972 (each of these teams also have long waiting lists for season tickets).

Similarly, no Super Bowl has ever been unavailable in the market of origin since Super Bowl VII 1973. Every Super Bowl except the first has been a sellout, and, with the game's high-profile status, a television blackout is highly unlikely.

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No opposing games[edit]

Another policy to encourage sellouts is, except in Week 17, no other NFL game can air opposite the local franchise's broadcast on the primary market's affiliate due to NFL rules or due to a blackout.

If a local franchise's broadcast is being held at home in the early game of a doubleheader, the other network (which shows the single game) may only show a game during the late time slot;
If a local franchise's broadcast is at home in the late game of a doubleheader, the other network (which shows the single game) may only show a game during the early time slot;
If a local franchise is playing at home, and the broadcast is shown by the network carrying only one game, the other network (which shows the doubleheader) may only air one game in that market; either early or late (the slot which the local franchise is not playing);
If a local franchise is playing an away game, and the broadcast is shown by the network on which it is the only NFL game it is airing that week, the other network (which shows the doubleheader) may air both of their games;
If a local franchise is playing on the road on the network carrying a doubleheader, the other network can air its single game in the same timeslot opposite the local franchise's game. However, affiliates in the local franchise's primary market almost always opt against it because such an action usually ensures low ratings. The 'no opposing game' policy is a key reason why single game fixtures on the East Coast are occasionally scheduled for the late time slot.

Special exemptions are in effect when other events (such as the US Open Tennis Championships Final through 2014, the Major League Baseball playoffs, golf's Ryder Cup in 1991 and 1995, or the 2022 FIFA World Cup final) air on one of the two networks broadcasting Sunday games, which typically have a 4:30 p.m. start time (tennis or baseball), or will run through 1:00 p.m. (soccer and golf). The network airing the event is given the single game at 1:00 or 4:00 p.m. that week, and can broadcast games opposite the team that has a home game on their network at the same time during the affected weeks. This was most notably used by CBS for tennis, NBC for golf, and all three networks that have aired Sunday games (CBS, NBC and Fox) have used the exemption for baseball. Fox is expected to use the exemption in 2022 because of an eight-hour time difference between the Eastern time zone and Qatar, and the World Cup Final would start no later than 1 PM EST.

As of the 2014 season, these rules do not apply in Week 17, where playoff or draft implications are affected by many games. Because of the nature of Week 17 games with playoff implications, all restrictions except the blackout for failure to sell out games rule are waived, giving Fox and CBS doubleheaders for Week 17 in all markets, regardless of whether the local team is at home.^[13]

Each television market, including one hosting a game that is not sold out, is assured of at least one televised game in the early and late time slots, one game on each network, but no network doubleheader in the home market of a game that is not sold out.

If a blackout is in the early game of a doubleheader, the network may not air a game in the late game slot;
If a blackout is in the late game of a doubleheader, the network may not air a game in the early game slot;
If a blackout is in the early game slot and shown by the network scheduled to carry a single game, the network must show another game in the early or late game slot;
If a blackout is in the late game slot, shown by the network scheduled to carry a single game and is the only game in the late game slot, the network must show a game during the early game slot.

The New York and San Francisco Bay Area markets typically get fewer doubleheaders than other markets as those markets each have two teams, and one of them is playing at home virtually every week. The main exception is when one of the teams is idle, has its home game televised on the doubleheader network, or is chosen for a prime time game, as well as when the teams play each other on the network carrying a doubleheader or if a team is playing in the International Series. This policy affects only the franchise's primary market, not others with signals that penetrate inside the 75-mile radius. It also does not affect viewers of NFL Sunday Ticket in the primary market; all other games remain available.

Some markets, like those in Southwest Georgia, can see up to five (or even six) NFL games a week, with different network affiliates offering games involving the Falcons and Jaguars, and doubleheaders for the other conference's affiliate in the same market. Central New Jersey offers similar access to the New York and Philadelphia markets.

Blackout procedure[edit]

If a home game is unavailable locally because it is not sold out before the 72-hour deadline, one of the following situations will occur:

If the blacked out home game is a nationally televised game on a broadcast network (such as on NBC for its Sunday Night Football telecast), where no other NFL games are played at the same time, all local stations inside the 75-mile radius must broadcast alternative programming (the stations have to program the time themselves, since other affiliates are showing the game). This scenario is unlikely to happen since the 2006 NFL rule changes regarding reassigning game start times for Sunday games, known as 'flexible scheduling.' As a result of the rule change, Sunday night games are scheduled to have highly anticipated contests featuring teams in good form. As a result, the chances of a home game not selling out during the first quarter of the season, when there is still hope for a team to rebound after a poor start, are remote, and the only possible situations where this is likely to happen are on Thanksgiving or Christmas (Thanksgiving Day games for all three rightsholder networks are assigned in advance, and in years when Christmas Eve falls during the weekend (if on a Saturday, most NFL Sunday games, except the one Christmas Day game on Sunday night, are assigned to Saturday, and if on a Sunday, NBC's game is assigned to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Christmas Day – if observed on a Monday, so that game is assigned in advance).

The 2006 NFL rule change allows NBC and the NFL to reassign game start times for Sunday games only, beginning in Week 11, although the NFL changed this clause to Week 5 in 2014 (with the rule that only two of the six possible Sunday night games could have reassigned start times). Therefore, if a late-season match features a game with no playoff implications (both teams have been eliminated, or the game has no seeding implications), often with the home team already eliminated, and thus would be unlikely to sell out, it will be moved to Sunday afternoon in favor of a better game (a prime example being in 2010 when a game between the Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals was moved to the afternoon in favor of one involving the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles, which ended up being played on Tuesday due to severe winter weather in the Philadelphia area; the Bengals game ended up being blacked out, and thus WKRC-TV and two other nearby CBS affiliates – WHIO-TV in Dayton, Ohio and WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky – could not carry it).

If the blacked-out nationally televised game is being shown on a cable network (such as ESPN or the NFL Network), all cable and satellite television providers in markets that are within the 75-mile radius, in addition already to the primary market of the home team (which is already blacked out), must black out the cable broadcaster's feed to customers in affected markets during the game (this is a condition of the channels' agreements with both the league and the providers). In addition, the game is not simulcast on a local broadcast station in the blacked-out markets. Local stations would still be able to show highlights during their newscasts after the game has concluded. In areas where the game is blacked out, ESPN and the NFL Network would generally offer alternate programming (ESPN traditionally switches to a simulcast of ESPNews). As ESPN and NFL Network games featuring the local teams are syndicated in the local markets under the NFL's anti-siphoning policies, the station that holds local rights to the cable broadcasts but cannot show the games originally scheduled to be carried would either run their own alternate programming or, if affiliated with a major network, show the regularly scheduled network programming for that night. During the pre-season, blacked out games can be aired in their entirety, but only on tape delay (generally after late-evening newscasts).
If the blacked-out home game is played on a Sunday afternoon, all local stations inside the 75-mile radius must show a different NFL game during that time slot – the network typically chooses the game (typically a #1 game for that slot). In addition, NFL Sunday Ticket cannot telecast the game within that area. As already stated, the network scheduled to run a doubleheader can broadcast only one game into that team's primary market (usually the #1 game), which is designed to prevent viewers from opting to watch the other televised NFL games instead of attending that involving their local team. Again, the secondary markets would still carry a doubleheader. In some cases, the network-affiliated stations will switch time slots so that the network running the doubleheader can still show its featured 4:25 p.m. (Eastern Time) game.
The NFL Mobile app for mobile devices periodically checks the user's location in order to enforce blackouts, and will not show a blacked-out game if the device is being used in the game's home market. Transmissions are also blacked out if the mobile device utilizes cell towers or wifi signals within or near the home stadium.

In 2005, for the first time in its history, the NFL lifted the blackout policies for a team: the New Orleans Saints. Due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints split their home games between Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and the Alamodome in San Antonio, with most home games being played in Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge is a secondary market for the Saints and is subject to blackouts when games held at the Superdome carried by over-the-air networks do not sell out, since CBS affiliate WAFB and Fox affiliate WGMB reach within 75 miles of the Superdome, even though the city limits of Baton Rouge are more than 75 miles from the stadium (the Baton Rouge DMA is not subjected to a blackout when Saints games televised by ESPN or the NFL Network do not sell out).

San Antonio is an unofficial secondary market for the Dallas Cowboys (in that the Cowboys games are routinely televised in that area, but the area is not within the 75 mile blackout radius), and two of three Saints games in 2005 played at the Alamodome were not broadcast anywhere in Texas, as the start times for the Cowboys and Saints games conflicted on those dates. The only game of the San Antonio dates not to sell out, in Week 4 against Buffalo, was televised locally by CBS (on KENS-TV) as the Cowboys had a late game that day against the Oakland Raiders at McAfee Coliseum (Fox affiliate KABB, therefore, never broadcast a Saints home game in the San Antonio market, as the Cowboys and Saints are in the National Football Conference, and the Cowboys have a larger following in Texas).^[14]

The blackout policies extend even to the Pro Bowl; if that game is not sold out, it is not televised in the home media market. From 1980 to 2009, and again from 2011 to 2014, the game was played in Halawa, making the applicable market the entire state of Hawaii.^[2] The 2010 game was played in the Miami area (at Sun Life Stadium).

Due to decreasing ticket sales, the league significantly softened its blackout policy in 2009. Though the traditional rules still apply, the league is using some of its new media features to provide access to untelecasted games. For instance, the league will not subject its 'RedZone' channel to any blackouts. In addition, complete live games will be made available for free online on the Monday (except Monday Night Football), Tuesday and Wednesday following the game, if the game is blacked out, using the league's Game Rewind package.^[15]

Criticism[edit]

Critics claim that these blackout policies are largely ineffective in creating sold out, filled stadiums. They contend that there are other factors that prevent sellouts, such as high ticket prices and low enthusiasm for a losing team. Furthermore, it has been argued that blackouts hurt the league; without the television exposure, it becomes more difficult for those teams with low attendance and few sellouts to increase their popularity and following as the exposure decreases.^[16]

Conversely, the NFL has sold out well over 90% of games in recent seasons. Additionally, many teams sell out their entire regular season schedule before it begins (usually through season-ticket sales; at least half of all NFL teams have a season-ticket waiting list), and so there is no threat of a blackout in those markets.

Market and year of last blackout/non-sellout[edit]

Washington (1968; before 1973 rules)
Denver (1969; in AFL, before 1973 rules)
Pittsburgh (1972; before 1973 rules)
New York City–North Jersey (1977)¹
San Francisco (1981)
Green Bay (1983)
Chicago (1984)
Dallas (1990)
New England (1993)
Los Angeles–Anaheim (1994)
Cleveland (1995)³
Houston (1996)²
Baltimore (1997)^[17]
Minnesota (1997)
Miami (1998)
Nashville (1998)
Philadelphia (1999)
Carolina (2002)
Seattle (2003)
Indianapolis (2003)
New Orleans (2004)
Arizona (2005)
Atlanta (2007)
Kansas City (2009)
Jacksonville (2009)
Detroit (2010)
Cincinnati (2012)
Tampa Bay (2012)
Oakland (2012)
Buffalo (2013)

Notes:

¹ The last blackout for the New York Giants was in 1975, and the Jets in 1977; in both seasons, the teams played in New York City's Shea Stadium. In the Giants' case, Shea was a temporary home, since Giants Stadium was still under construction. Both have sold out all of their games since relocating to North Jersey.
² The last blackout in Houston was when the Oilers resided there. The Texans have always sold out in the city.
³ The last two games of the 1995 season failed to sell out after the team's ownership announced the team's move to Baltimore.

Secondary markets[edit]

The league also designates 'secondary markets', usually adjoining primary markets (generally areas within 75 miles of a stadium, but not having their own team) that are also required to show the local NFL franchise. Generally, these secondary markets must show the away games but are not obligated to telecast the designated team's sold out home games.

Their decision on whether to show home games typically depends on whether the NFL-designated local team is perceived to be the most popular in the market. For example, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is a secondary market to the Baltimore Ravens; therefore the Harrisburg market's CBS affiliate, WHP-TV, must show all Ravens away games. However, since there are many Pittsburgh Steelers fans in the region, when the Ravens are home at the same time the Steelers are playing, that station shows the latter game. Harrisburg is thus considered a battleground territory for the Steelers–Ravens rivalry. Understanding management daft pdf.

The same applies for the Orlando, Florida metropolitan area, as its local CBS affiliate WKMG-TV broadcasts both Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars games. In some cases, the NFL has the two teams play at different times to accommodate the entire state of Florida (but only when CBS has the doubleheader, or if one of the teams is on Fox). WKMG lobbied to carry a Dolphins game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005, but the NFL refused this request – as Orlando is officially a Jaguars secondary market (despite downtown Orlando being 141 miles from the Jaguars' home stadium, TIAA Bank Field, compared to 88 miles from the Buccaneers' home, Raymond James Stadium) the station had to carry the Jaguars game at Pittsburgh. This issue again came up in 2013, during Week 2, when CBS' late game window featured two games: the Denver Broncos at the New York Giants (which was a much-hyped matchup between brothers Peyton and Eli Manning) and the Jaguars at the Oakland Raiders (a matchup of two teams that were not expected to contend for the playoffs). Again, since Orlando is a secondary market of the Jaguars, WKMG was required to carry the latter game; the station notoriously apologized for having to show the Jaguars game.^[18]^[19]^[20] There have been exceptions, however; in the last week of the 2016 season, the Jaguars played their regular season finale on the road at the Indianapolis Colts, while the Dolphins played their regular season finale against the New England Patriots at home. Since the Jaguars were on the road, this should have meant WKMG would be required to carry the Jaguars-Colts game. However, the Jaguars granted a one-time waiver of the secondary markets rule requirement for the Orlando market, thus allowing WKMG to air the Patriots-Dolphins game; this is most likely because the Dolphins had clinched a playoff spot the previous week and the Patriots were going for home-field advantage in the AFC, while both the Jaguars and Colts had both been eliminated from playoff contention.

Two-team secondary markets[edit]

There are rare instances where a market will have two teams claiming their territory. For instance, Youngstown, Ohio lies roughly halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, is within the 75-mile radius for both cities and is considered a battleground territory in the Browns–Steelers rivalry. Therefore, local CBS affiliate WKBN-TV must show whichever team is playing an away game. If one game is on CBS while the other is on Fox, both games will air (WKBN's parent company also owns low-powered Fox affiliate WYFX-LD, which is simulcast on WKBN's second digital subchannel).

If both the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled to play at the same time on CBS or Fox and the location of the game does not matter, WKBN/WYFX will usually air the Browns game. However, on December 2, 2012, when the Browns played at the Raiders and the Steelers played at the Ravens in the late window of a CBS doubleheader, WKBN aired the Steelers game as the former was between two teams that were out of playoff contention, while the latter was between two teams that were in playoff contention (as well as the AFC North title), and was also the main game of the late CBS window. The fan base is evenly split between those two teams, with the San Francisco 49ers also having a small following due to team owners John and Denise DeBartolo York being based out of the Youngstown suburb of Canfield, Ohio.

Similar issues concerning the same market teams occurred with CBS affiliate WTRF in Wheeling, West Virginia, which formerly carried Fox programming on its 7.2 subchannel (Fox Ohio Valley) until 2014, when WTOV-TV took over the affiliation on one of its subchannels. At times, WTRF would run a game broadcast by Fox on the subchannel opposite a Browns or Steelers home game that aired on the main CBS feed regardless, and vice versa.

'Unofficial' and 'temporary' secondary markets[edit]

Many markets serve as 'unofficial' secondary markets for the league's various teams due to rooting interest in those markets. As they are not designated by the NFL as official secondary markets, they technically are not required to air any games, but will do so to please the fanbases.

For example, in Texas, virtually all CBS and Fox stations respectively carry the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys when games involving those teams are on different networks. However until 2010, CBS owned-and-operated stationKTVT in Dallas rarely aired Texans games unless it had no other option; but for the 2011 season, it carried most Texans games, except for a handful of conflicts. Fox owned-and-operated station KRIV in Houston always airs Cowboys games if it is not prohibited from doing so by NFL rules. In another example, Seattle Seahawks games are usually aired on Fox (and occasionally CBS) stations across the entire Pacific Northwest as the team is the only NFL franchise in the area.

The New England Patriots, especially since Tom Brady became quarterback, also have almost all of New England as unofficial secondary markets (Providence, Rhode Island is an official secondary market). Not only do all or almost all CBS or Fox (depending on the game carrier) affiliates in New England carry Patriots games, but the team's syndicated preseason broadcasts cover the entire region. Hartford, Connecticut is within proximity to New York, and stations in that market have sometimes aired a New York Jets game instead; however, this rarely occurs.

The New York Giants have most of the markets in upstate New York (with the exception of Western New York, which belongs to the Buffalo Bills) as unofficial secondary markets. Albany is considered an official secondary market of the Giants. In addition, Burlington, Vermont (whose Fox affiliate, WFFF-TV, has a coverage area that includes Plattsburgh in the eastern corner of New York) has become an unofficial market for the Giants, preventing the Patriots from having full control over all New England markets (the Patriots, as an American Football Conference team, still receive copious coverage on the local CBS affiliate, WCAX-TV). An example of this occurred on September 27, 2009, when the Giants hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Patriots hosted the Atlanta Falcons, both at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. WFFF-TV, which covers most of the state of Vermont and also extreme northern New York, broadcast the Giants game, as it is used to airing the team's games as a Fox affiliate. More recently, however, WFFF-TV has aired Patriots games over those involving the Giants when the former is featured on the network. Boston affiliate WFXT generally (but not always) carries Fox's Sunday-afternoon Giants games other than those that cannot be carried on the station because the New England Patriots are playing a home game at the same time. Providence affiliate WNAC-TV carries Fox's Giants' games unless the network is broadcasting a Patriots' home game at the same time the Giants are playing.

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Specifically due to the issues with requirements for Hartford, Connecticut CBS affiliate WFSB to carry mainly New York Jets games as a secondary market most weeks (and to a much lesser extent, the Buffalo Bills), Meredith Corporation established a new CBS affiliate in the Springfield, Massachusetts market in 2003, WSHM-LD, in order to allow that market to become a Patriots secondary market; previously, Meredith's WFSB served as the default CBS affiliate for the Springfield market, which otherwise contains only two other full-power commercial stations. This became a liability as the Patriots dynasty began, as viewers north of the Connecticut/Massachusetts line could not watch their home state's team most weeks. Four years later, ABC affiliate WGGB-TV established their own Fox DT2 subchannel, taking over from Hartford's WTIC-TV as Springfield's default Fox affiliate and allowing that market access to the remainder of Patriots Sunday home games with an NFC opponent (WGGB-DT2 otherwise carries mainly Giants home games like the remainder of New England's other stations). Over time however with the sustained success of the Patriots, WFSB has mainly moved towards carrying their games, with the Jets losing games on that station as time has gone on.

Since 1995, the San Francisco 49ers have had most of California from the Oregon-California border south to Los Angeles as an unofficial secondary market, although the Los Angeles area was a secondary market for the San Diego Chargers until the Rams' return to Los Angeles in 2016 (Sacramento is an official secondary market to both the 49ers and the Raiders).

An oddity of 'temporary' secondary markets have occurred in Wisconsin, Washington and South Carolina as a result of a rooting interest in one particular player. After the 2007 season, quarterback Brett Favre departed the Green Bay Packers for the New York Jets. As a result, CBS affiliates WFRV in Green Bay (which was formerly owned by CBS) and WDJT-TV in Milwaukee were able to ask for as many Jets games as CBS and the NFL could offer to their viewers.^[21] In 2009, when Favre moved to an NFC North division rival, the Minnesota Vikings, Fox affiliates WLUK-TV in Green Bay and WITI in Milwaukee requested as many Vikings games on their stations as possible. This also occurred in 2011 in Seattle, where the market was able to broadcast Tennessee Titans games because former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was a Titans starter, and local native and former University of Washington quarterback Jake Locker was drafted in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Titans. Given these two fan favorites, local CBS affiliate KIRO-TV requested to air as many of these games as possible.^[22] In 2014, CBS affiliate WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina requested to change game assignments for Week 17 from the San Diego Chargers–Kansas City Chiefs game to the Cleveland Browns–Baltimore Ravens game; WLTX requested the change when the Browns had undrafted rookie quarterback Connor Shaw, a fan favorite from the University of South Carolina, start the game.^[23]

Wichita is not an official secondary market for any team, but all Chiefs games are televised in the market. Stations KWCH and KSAS almost always show the Cowboys and/or Broncos when they do not conflict with the Chiefs.

In 2018, stations in Oklahoma City and Tulsa started requesting as many Cleveland Browns games as possible when 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield, who starred for the University of Oklahoma, became the team's starting quarterback. The networks complied, except in cases when the Browns and Dallas Cowboys were playing at the same time on the same network; the Cowboys have enjoyed a large base of support in neighboring Oklahoma since their founding in 1960. Previously, the Minnesota Vikings were requested as much as possible by Oklahoma stations due to the presence of former OU star running back Adrian Peterson.

Since 2015, when 2014 Heisman winner Marcus Mariota from the University of Oregon was drafted by the Titans, stations in Oregon have carried most Tennessee games when they do not conflict with broadcasts of the Seattle Seahawks.

Other information[edit]

In all other markets, the networks are the sole arbiters of the telecast matches. However, they usually make their decisions after consulting with all of their local affiliates. On rarer occasions, some affiliates are offered a choice of a few games for a given time slot, if there is no game that stands out as appropriate. In those cases, some stations have allowed the viewers to vote online for their preferred game. In the early 1990s, New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU conducted a poll via telephone during several weeks to select which game would be broadcast^{[citation needed]}

For example, during Week 3 of the 2010 season, Fox affiliate KMSS-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana conducted an online viewer poll in which fans could choose between the Dallas Cowboys–Houston Texans game and the Atlanta Falcons–New Orleans Saints game. The station is situated in the Ark-La-Tex region, where both the Saints and Cowboys have significant fan bases, due to the Shreveport market being situated on the northern border between Louisiana and Texas, including Texarkana, and the southwest corner of Arkansas. The poll concluded with viewers choosing the Falcons-Saints game, even though Shreveport is closer to Dallas than New Orleans.^[24]. Earlier, during at least part of the 1991 season; NBC affiliate WAVY-TV in Portsmouth, Virginia had call-in contests in which viewers of their newscasts could call in to request one of two games being offered opposite a game involving the Washington Redskins that aired on local CBS affiliate WTKR-TV, though if NBC had the doubleheader the game not airing opposite the Redskins game would have to be the one NBC assigned to the station.^[25]

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On one rare instance during Week 16 of the 2016 season, KCBS-TV in Los Angeles was granted special permission to air a Colts–Raiders game in the 1:05 p.m. PT late slot while the Los Angeles Rams hosted the 49ers at the same time at home on Fox. Although KCBS had the single game and was contractually obligated to carry the San Diego Chargers game at the Cleveland Browns in the early 10 a.m. PT slot since Los Angeles is an official secondary market of the Chargers, the Colts–Raiders game had playoff implications as well as Los Angeles having a large Raiders fan base due to the fact that the team played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994.^[26]

Networks, however, have the ability to override a station's request; WIVB-TV in Buffalo, for instance, requested a New England Patriots–Denver Broncos game in December 2011, due to the fact that the hometown Buffalo Bills faced both teams in the upcoming weeks and because of the high-profile showdown between Tim Tebow and Tom Brady; the station instead received a game between the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles.^[27]

References[edit]

Nfl Blackout Map

^'Rubin, Rozelle, the Redskins, and Super Bowl Blackouts'. February 5, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
^ ^a^b'Local TV blackout still possible for Pro Bowl'. NFL.com. Associated Press. February 6, 2009.
^'Blackout lifted for Broncos-Chargers'. ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports. November 24, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
^Gene Warner (November 29, 2011). 'If game faces TV blackout, Bills won't bail it out'. The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
^'Report: NFL team owners get more flexibility on blackouts'. The Buffalo News. BH Media Group, LLC. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
^Gene Warner (August 30, 2012). 'Bills aren't alone on blackout policy'. BH Media Group, LLC. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
^Tom Wheeler (September 9, 2014). 'FCC chairman: Sack the NFL's blackout rule'. USA Today.
^Alicia Jessop (September 30, 2014). 'The FCC's Elimination Of The Sports Blackout Rule Is Not A Touchdown For NFL Fans'. Forbes. Forbes Inc. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
^Gautham Nagesh (September 30, 2014). 'FCC Votes Unanimously to Scrap Sports Blackout Rule'. The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
^ ^a^b'NFL to suspend TV blackout policy'. ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 23, 2015.
^'NFL continues suspension of local TV blackout policy for 2016'. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
^Pergament, Alan (August 9, 2017). 'Tasker is only constant in Bills preseason coverage'. The Buffalo News. Retrieved 9 August 2017. All games are televised live, which can't help ticket sales for what amounts to practice games.
^'NFL Communications: WEEK 17 FLEX SCHEDULING'(PDF). NFL.com. December 23, 2014.
^'No blackout for Saints games in Baton Rouge'. NFL.com (Press release). October 26, 2005. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
^'NFL.com to show blacked-out games free in local markets on delayed basis'. NFL.com (Press release). September 10, 2009.
^Ralph Nader (August 17, 1998). 'Ralph Nader's op-ed opposing the NFL's blackout rule'. LeagueOfFans.org (republished). Democrat and Chronicle. p. 5A. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
^Vito Stellino (September 8, 1997). 'Domination on ground lifts Ravens RAVENS 23, BENGALS 10'. Baltimore Sun. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
^TV Station Forced To Broadcast Jaguars: WKMG-TV Apologies For ‘Inconvenience’ Of Bad Team Huffington Post
^If Jags want Orlando to watch them on TV, play games here instead of London Orlando Sentinel
^Orlando TV Station Airs Public Apology For Having To Broadcast Jacksonville Jaguars Games Business Insider
^'Favre lands Jets on CBS'. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Journal Communications. August 8, 2008. Archived from the original on August 16, 2008.
^Warren Gerds (August 21, 2009). 'Local stations to carry 8 Vikings games'. Green Bay Press-Gazette. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
^Derry London (December 23, 2014). 'WLTX NFL Sunday: Browns, Ravens and Panthers, Falcons'. WLTX. Gannett Company. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
^'KTAL NBC 6 – ArkLaTex homepage.com'. KTAL-TV/KMSS-TV/KSHV-TV. Nexstar Media Group. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
^Williams, Jennifer (4 October 1991). 'Local Tv Station Gives Nfl Fans Option Play'. Daily Press (Newport News, VA). Retrieved 5 June 2017.
^'NFL Week 16 in the L.A. TV market UPDATE: Rams will have Raiders as head-to-head viewing competition Saturday … Merry Christmas Eve'. insidesocal.com. December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
^Alan Pergament (December 19, 2011). 'NBC game show is a dumb campy joke'. The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved December 21, 2011.

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