Nfl Tickets - Rough Economy Leads To Nfl Blackouts
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Diehard football fans with season tickets to home games have nothing to worry about this year, but there's bad news for many other NFL enthusiasts. It seems as if the tough economy has struck the sports market, after all, and a lack of ticket sales for some NFL teams has resulted in a number of TV blackouts that will occur this fall and winter as football season comes into play. While several teams around the league are still hoping for ticket sales to pick up over the next few weeks, franchises such as the San Diego Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars have already announced that home TV blackouts are likely to occur this season as a result of inabilities to sell out their stadiums for home games. It's a rule within the league that games that don't sell out NFL tickets within 72 hours of kickoff are forced to be blacked out locally, with the blackout also including DirecTV's premium package, and some teams other than just the Chargers and Jaguars will perhaps fall victim to the blackout blues this football season, even despite winning records. The poor economy in conjunction with the high cost of tickets this year has resulted in less people attending stadiums for football games, and the number of blackouts during the 2009 football season will very likely surpass last year's blackout total of nine in the league. As of now, both the Chargers and Jaguars have already announced that blackouts are likely to occur this season, with Jacksonville even looking at blackouts during all nine of the team's home games in 2009, but other teams such as the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams could also be facing blackouts if ticket sales don't steadily increase. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are several teams around the league that have already sold out all home games this season to diehard fans, and the 13 franchises who certainly won't face blackouts this year are the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins. 24 of the 32 teams in the league kept ticket prices level from 2008 to 2009, probably accounting for some of the 13 teams' sellouts, but the NFL isn't jumping to change its rules for the other teams around the league struggling to sell tickets. In fact, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently told CBS Sports' Sean McManus that "he is not going to make any major adjustment to a rule that has lasted a long time just because of a short-term economic problem... I don't think there is any way they are going to change it, so it is pointless to talk to them about it." This news of fixed rules and no exceptions means that NFL teams need to keep selling football tickets to escape the doom of blackouts, and tickets to games this season are already on sale online. In the meantime, the show must go on, so grab your favorite team's paraphernalia and head to the stadium to take part in the madness that is sure to be the 2009 football season!
Diehard football fans with season tickets to home games have nothing to worry about this year, but there's bad news for many other NFL enthusiasts. It seems as if the tough economy has struck the sports market, after all, and a lack of ticket sales for some NFL teams has resulted in a number of TV blackouts that will occur this fall and winter as football season comes into play. While several teams around the league are still hoping for ticket sales to pick up over the next few weeks, franchises such as the San Diego Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars have already announced that home TV blackouts are likely to occur this season as a result of inabilities to sell out their stadiums for home games. It's a rule within the league that games that don't sell out NFL tickets within 72 hours of kickoff are forced to be blacked out locally, with the blackout also including DirecTV's premium package, and some teams other than just the Chargers and Jaguars will perhaps fall victim to the blackout blues this football season, even despite winning records. The poor economy in conjunction with the high cost of tickets this year has resulted in less people attending stadiums for football games, and the number of blackouts during the 2009 football season will very likely surpass last year's blackout total of nine in the league. As of now, both the Chargers and Jaguars have already announced that blackouts are likely to occur this season, with Jacksonville even looking at blackouts during all nine of the team's home games in 2009, but other teams such as the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams could also be facing blackouts if ticket sales don't steadily increase. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are several teams around the league that have already sold out all home games this season to diehard fans, and the 13 franchises who certainly won't face blackouts this year are the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins. 24 of the 32 teams in the league kept ticket prices level from 2008 to 2009, probably accounting for some of the 13 teams' sellouts, but the NFL isn't jumping to change its rules for the other teams around the league struggling to sell tickets. In fact, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently told CBS Sports' Sean McManus that "he is not going to make any major adjustment to a rule that has lasted a long time just because of a short-term economic problem... I don't think there is any way they are going to change it, so it is pointless to talk to them about it." This news of fixed rules and no exceptions means that NFL teams need to keep selling football tickets to escape the doom of blackouts, and tickets to games this season are already on sale online. In the meantime, the show must go on, so grab your favorite team's paraphernalia and head to the stadium to take part in the madness that is sure to be the 2009 football season!