The FCC just sacked the sports blackout rule

It's good news for sure, but with an asterisk.

And there's the asterisk, the leagues themselves can still impose blackout rules via their TV contracts. But they can't pretend it's the government that's forcing them to do it.

Personally, I don't think the NFL much cares what we think. They're gonna do things their way no matter what. And blackouts are dying off anyway due to better team marketing and seat license sales. Fewer than 1% of NFL games are now blacked out.

The rule that really gets my goat is the "local market" rule. With NFL Sunday Ticket I can stream any Sunday afternoon game except a game that's being broadcast by a local New York TV station. Those I have to watch on a physical TV. Why? So I won't miss the fabulous local commercials. You know, the ones for Route 22 Nissan and the New York Lottery, that I'd obviously never see if I wasn't watching the Jets.

Don't count on the FCC ditching that rule any time soon. The NFL is "powerful," but the broadcast networks are the 800 lb gorilla, and the FCC isn't about to take them on. Just look at what they did to Aereo and you'll immediately conclude that it was the networks driving the FCC to rescind the blackout rule; they want the ad revenue from every sporting event. Reruns of Gilligans Island don't get anywhere near the ratings of a football or baseball game. So a game that's not on TV is one that isn't making money for them.

Protectionism sucks. But it's here to stay.

Posted at 14:24 by Chris Wysocki   [/tech]   Comments | Perm Link |
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