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The National Football League television blackout policies are the strictest among the four major professional sports leagues in North America.
The NFL maintained a blackout policy, from 1973 through 2014, that stated that a home game cannot be televised in the team's local market if 85 percent of the tickets are not sold out 72 hours before the starting time of the match. This makes the NFL the only major professional sports league in the US that requires teams to sell out tickets in order to broadcast a game on television locally. Nationally televised games in the other leagues often are blacked out on the national networks on which the game is airing in the local markets of the participating teams. Those games still can be seen on the local broadcast television station or regional sports network that normally holds their local/regional broadcast rights. The NFL's blackout policy has been suspended on a year-to-year basis since 2015.[1][2][3][4][5]
The NFL also is the only league that imposes an anti-siphoning rule in all teams' local markets: the NFL sells syndication rights of each team's cable and streaming games to a local over-the-air station in each local market. The respective cable station must be blacked out when that team is playing the said game (alternate telecasts, such as Nickelodeon’s NFL broadcasts, are not required to be simulcast in the local markets), but streaming games are not subject to blackout if the local station is simulcasting.[6]
^Patra, Kevin (March 23, 2015). "NFL suspends local blackout policy for 2015". NFL.com. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
^Yoder, Matt (2015-03-23). "Hallelujah, no NFL blackouts in 2015!". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
League televisionblackoutpolicies are the strictest among the four major professional sports leagues in North America. The NFL maintained a blackout policy...
is only broadcast to selected media markets. The NFL imposes several television and blackoutpolicies to maximize ratings and optimize stadium attendances...
for exclusive broadcasting, called 'blackout' rules, which bar certain areas from watching live games. Most blackouts are for two reasons: The first is...
immediately.[citation needed] The NFL suspended the local blackoutpolicy for the 2015 NFL regular season, and has since done so indefinitely. Until the...
no-shows recorded by NFL". Nashua Telegraph. (New Hampshire). Associated Press. December 17, 1973. p. 32. "NFL to suspend TV blackoutpolicy". ESPN.com. Associated...
could be viewed by a greater television audience (while the NFL had scheduled Saturday night games on the DuMont Television Network in 1953 and 1954, poor...
954, with $35,402 from the closed-circuit telecast. Due to the NFL'sblackoutpolicy which aimed to protect gate receipts, until 1973, fans in a team's...
national television partners. Through the 2014 season, the NFL had a blackoutpolicy in which games were 'blacked out' on local television in the home...
(this rule, along with the rest of the league's blackoutpolicies, was suspended for the 2015 season). NFL Network sometimes simulcasts select preseason...
to prevent a local televisionblackout. The Lions were routed by the Tennessee Titans 47–10, en route to the team's 0–16 season. NFL commissioner Roger...
football were more popular than professional football. Due to the NFL understanding television at an earlier time, they were able to surpass Major League Baseball...
televised on the NBC television network and the Peacock streaming service in the United States. NBC had sporadically carried NFL games as early as 1939...
in Buffalo shows how NFL'stelevisionpolicies irking fan base". USA Today. November 26, 2006. Retrieved November 27, 2006. "NFL announces new prime-time...
NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL)...
Since 2000 Prior to 2015, the Pro Bowl was still subject to the NFL'sblackoutpolicies, requiring the game to be blacked out within 75 miles (121 km)...
National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since...
In American television in 2017, notable events included television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and re-brandings;...
only one blackout in 2010, yet another Redskins game, which the Lions won 37–25. However, in 2015, the NFL suspended its blackoutpolicies, meaning that...
In American television in 2018, notable events included television show finales, cancellations and information about controversies and carriage disputes...
2024). "DirecTV Offering Credits, Antennas Amid New TV Blackout With Cox Media Group". PolicyBand. Winslow, George (November 29, 2022). "Cox Stations...
little too strict when he refused to lift a blackout for Detroit viewers to watch the sold out 1957 NFL Championship between the Lions and the Cleveland...
holders went on sale, they sold within three hours. Due to the NFL'sblackoutpolicy which aimed to protect gate receipts, until 1973, fans in a team's...
Association (NFLPA) is the labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by...
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