courtesy of: ESPN.com
The NFL continued its full court press strategy against bad publicity this week when it announced that it will suspend its TV blackout policy for the upcoming 2015 season. As 2014 continues to hang around the NFL’s collective necks like a black and blue albatross, it has been clear in recent weeks that America’s Game needs America to get back on board. This week’s policy announcement is a step in the right direction; a long and quite overdue step.
Since 1973, when the current policy was voted into effect, NFL games that did not reach an agreed upon level of ticket sales were blacked out in their local television markets. The idea was to boost ticket sales and bring more people to the stadiums, and while die-hard fans obliged, the casual (and frankly less affluent) fans were left without the opportunity to see their local team. The result was a growing anti-fan perspective that has continued to this day. The mindset among middle-class, blue collar football fans became that the NFL cared only about their bottom line and not about the people who contribute to it.
Blackouts were rampant in the early days of NFL football, but have steadily decreased since the 1980s. Nearly 40% of games resulted in a blackout in the 80s and today, that number is barely 5%. Those numbers as deceiving however, as the NFL has changed their agreed upon number of tickets sold; lowering it to a level that most franchises have been able to reach in recent years. The decline of blackouts, whether naturally or artificially, has not changed the general perception of the NFL as a money hungry entity though. If anything, that image has only been enhanced in the last decade or so, thanks to massive television contracts, a labor dispute, and an overall increase in ticket prices.
The now suspended policy has become antiquated, as many of the NFL’s policies have, but for a change, the league has decided to do something about it. Somewhat hidden in the headlines of this story though, is the detail that this policy change is only temporary. The league agreed to suspend, not remove, the blackout rule for the upcoming season only. It will review the results of this change during the following offseason to decide whether to continue blackout-free, or reinstate the policy.
The smart move here, would be to do away with this Jurassic piece of NFL legislature all together. The days of ticket sales as the driving force for economic success are long gone. Fans go to NFL games today for the experience and the atmosphere; not for the best view of the game. That comes from the comfort of their own couch as they tune in on their surprisingly affordable high-definition televisions. This is the reason why network contracts have become so lucrative for sports leagues, so why hinder the consumer with blackouts? The NFL may not have gotten out ahead of this one, but at least they are reacting in a positive way.
And perhaps even more positive than the lifting of the blackout policy, is the announcement that the NFL will stream the October 25th game in London this year for free on their website. This reveal, which surprisingly has been billed as nothing more than a footnote to the blackout story, is a huge step forward in the league’s attempt to actually cater to the ever-evolving requests of its consumers. The future (and by future, I mean right now!) of NFL viewing is live streaming and it’s refreshing to see the league acknowledging this and doing something about it.
I’ve used many terms to describe the NFL before, among them; incompetent, misguided, irresponsible, greedy, stodgy, hypocritical…I could go on. Perhaps the most accurate description of the league in recent memory though, has been reactionary. This week’s announcements have introduced a new word into my NFL vocabulary, and it’s one I never thought I’d use…progressive. Keep moving forward football; it’s the only way to ensure you don’t get left behind.
