Much of the coverage of yesterday’s AWESOME news that the FCC is going to review its blackout rule has focused on the NFL’s objections to eliminating the blackout rule. The NFL has previously attacked Sports Fans Coalition in formal comments with the FCC. But we’re happy to fight for fans against the NFL’s unethical and counterproductive blackout rule. The NFL’s rule is simple- if a game isn’t sold out within 72 hours, the game cannot be shown within a 75-mile radius by the local broadcaster. And the FCC’s rule states that cable and satellite companies are also prohibited from showing the game in the local market.

As for Major League Baseball, good luck trying to figure out their blackout rules. As ESPN.com’s John Helyar writes: “Major League Baseball’s TV blackout rules are so dizzyingly complex as to make a tax attorney weep, and the imposition of blackouts is so maddeningly widespread as to make legions of fans scream.” Helyar does his best to make sense of it all and you can read that piece here.

Take the absolutely absurd example of Las Vegas, which is somehow falls within the (home) blackout territory of SIX different baseball teams. As though a fan living in Las Vegas is going to be more likely to attend a game in Anaheim, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco or San Diego because he or she cannot see the game on television. As Las Vegas Review Journal‘s Jeff Wolf writes, “Even to the most astute, the policy is more convoluted than Abbott and Costello’s classic “Who’s on First?” routine.” Wolf also attempts to explain baseball’s blackout rules, which you can read here.