Not surprisingly, Bucs fans say they can’t afford the tickets. Tampa Bay has been one of the areas hardest hit by the recession. But rather than give folks there something to cheer for, the NFL believes being the most profitable sports league in the world isn’t enough.

The Bucs first regular season game is on September 11 against the Detroit Lions. It will likely be blacked out. Profits before community on September 11. Nice.

Read more about the Bucs situation here.

And know that Sports Fans Coalition will continue to battle the NFL over the blackout rule. We will not stop until blackouts are a thing of the past.

I told Smith that what I’d really love to see is the end of the NFL’s blackout rule. The rule punishes fans who cannot afford to go to the games or are physically unable to go to the games and it’s unethical because fans have already paid for the stadiums. (Not to mention being totally counterproductive to building a fan base, particularly kids.)

“I see no reason why we can’t write that in [to a new collective bargaining agreement],” Smith told me. “There’s no need for it. I’ve seen the numbers from the television revenues.”

I left with a sense of optimism that at least one side in the ongoing NFL labor negotiations gave a damn about the fans.

Fast forward to mid-July, when the NFL and NFLPA are on the verge of reaching an agreement. Think that new agreement will include an end to the blackout rule?

Yeah, me neither.

So we’re left knowing that the NFL needlessly punishes fans with its blackout rule and that despite knowing this, the NFL Players Association is likely unwilling to fight for fans on the issue.

Certainly, including language eliminating the blackout rule in the new CBA would be a great public relations move for the NFL after putting its fans through nearly six months of a grueling lockout. And it would be an acknowledgement that fans and taxpayers have contributed greatly to make this game what it is. The public has contributed at least $6.5 billion on NFL stadiums around the country.

But since that’s unlikely to happen, Sports Fans Coalition has asked the FCC to examine the issue. In formal comments filed with the FCC in May, we simply asked the agency to reconsider its own rules on blackouts. We believe that for decades the FCC has needlessly been enforcing blackout rules under the mistaken assumption that this is what Congress wanted of them. We have shown them this is not the case. So we asked the agency to just have another look at the issue, particularly given all the forms of media via which fans can watch games.

The NFL freaked out.

In a formal response filed in late June, the NFL attacked Sports Fans Coalition and actually argued that blackouts are in the best interests of the fans. The NFL basically said that the league would fall apart if the FCC’s sports blackout rule was amended. HA! As if.

When a new labor agreement is finally reached, likely in the next few weeks, fans should demand of the NFL and NFLPA, and the sports media, if there is anything in the agreement that specifically benefits fans, like the elimination of the blackout rule.

If the NFL (and NFLPA) are unwilling to take care of ending the absurd, archaic and unethical practice of blacking out games on its own, Sports Fans Coalition will continue to fight the fight here in Washington. Someone has to shine a light on the dirty business of sports.

Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and lives in Washington, D.C. Email him at brian@sportsfans.org and follow him on Twitter here.

We have written repeated columns and posts on the subject and discussed the issue directly with the NFL. In our “Fans’ List of Demands for a New NFL Labor Agreement“, one of those demands was that the blackout rule be eliminated. And on Thursday, we formally asked the FCC to eliminate its own sports blackout rule.

Now comes word that the NFL is feeling the pressure from fans and is considering relaxing its blackout rule (which many erroneously believe is Congressionally mandated). According to Sports Business Journal‘s Dan Kaplan, NFL owners are considering allowing more owners to cover unsold seats to circumvent the blackout rule. (They reportedly may vote on the rule at their next meeting on June 21.)

Of course, the league could just eliminate the rule, but hey, at least there’s some immediate hope for fans in cities that suffer from blackouts.

SportsFans.org is asking the FCC to revise its rules to allow for games to be aired in these matters so fans can see the games they love and have invested in.

You can read those comments here.

Here are the main issues that fans have been led to believe are key to the present NFL labor negotiations: how the owners and players should split up $9 billion a year in profits and should the owners open up their books, whether the season should expand from 16 to 18 games, and whether there should be a rookie wage scale.  These are all important issues, but are they really most important to football fans?

Well, this football fan, has a number of different issues that I feel are most important to be addressed in the new NFL Labor Agreement:

1. No more TV blackouts of NFL games.
2. No future seat license fees to fund NFL palaces (stadiums).
3. More fan involvement in operations of teams that receive public funding.
4. A freeze or reduction in ticket, concession, merchandise and parking prices.
5. A guarantee of no work stoppages in future CBA negotiations.
6. More restrictions on teams moving to new cities without fan input.

We have continued to hear from both the NFL and NFLPA how much they value the fans.  If they are true to their word, they will start paying attention to what their fans really want, and not just what is best for the owners and players.

I am excited that SFC Executive Director, Brian Frederick, has gotten the attention of the NFL and NFLPA.  I am also really looking forward to DeMaurice Smith’s promise to reply to SFC’s letter this coming Monday, and hope that the NFL will do the same.  I hope that other fans will answer Mr. Frederick’s request to hear what you want from the NFL labor agreement.  With fan involvement, we can make a huge difference; without fan involvement it will be business as usual.
–
Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey and an SFC Sportwriter Fellow. He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000. He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

Read Cablevision’s statement on the agreement here.

Even though the dispute is finally resolved, it is certainly not the last time competing corporations will use sports fans as pawns. Sports Fans Coalition will continue to fight any and all blackouts.

Next game to fall victim will be the New York Jets – Green Bay Packers game on Sunday, which is being broadcast on Fox. The Jets are 5-1, so Jets fans will certainly be watching…wherever they can.

Needless to say, we want to scream like Fireman Ed at both Fox and Cablevision.

Fortunately for Jets fans, the NFL is publishing on its website a list of sports bars and restaurants in the areas affected that have the DirecTV Sunday Ticket and will thus be showing the game. That should be a boon to local bars and restaurants.

Of course, we look forward to seeing the NFL’s list of bars and restaurants where we can watch the 2011 season if there’s a lockout. That won’t be such a boon for those same bars and restaurants…

In the meantime, SFC will continue to fight against this and all blackouts. And we need your help, so please join us.

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) — If you like this season’s NFL blackouts, just wait until the entire season is blacked out next year.

This is the warning Brian Frederick, executive directorof Washington-based fan lobbying and advocacy group the Sports Fans Coalition, offers the NFL faithful who think they didn’t need to get worked up about this year’s 13 games blacked out in their home markets — a measure that kicks in when games aren’t sold out 72 hours before kickoff. As most fans are all too aware, the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association is up for renewal next year, and owners are looking to reduce the 60% of revenue that goes to their helmeted-and-jerseyed employees.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Fed up with the blackouts that are now plaguing their team, San Diego Chargers fans are fighting back. Thanks to the NFL’s blackout rule requiring home games to be sold out at least 72 hours before kickoff, the rest of the Chargers’ games this season are expected to be blacked out. Before this season, the Chargers had had 48 consecutive sellouts.

So some Chargers fans have launched an organization called Stop Charger Blackouts. They’re asking fans and local businesses to contribute anything they can to a pool and once they’ve raised enough to buy the remaining tickets to a game, they will do so and donate the tickets to local charities.

It’s an inspiring act. And one that should be totally unnecessary.

Chargers owner Alex Spanos should be the one buying those tickets and giving them to charity. Under NFL rules, team owners can purchase unsold tickets for 34 cents on the dollar and give them to charity. Stop Charger Blackouts, meanwhile, has to pay full price.

But Spanos must need every penny. After all, he’s only the 365^th richest American, worth $1.1 billion. And if the Chargers really are costing him money – highly doubtful considering that the team that he bought for $74 million in 1984 is now valued at $907 million – then he should open up the books and show us. But he and the other owners refuse to do that.

Spanos is not alone. Bucs owner Malcom Glazer is the 136^th richest American, worth $2.6 billion. And despite getting the city of Tampa to build him a brand new stadium less than 15 years ago, he won’t buy his team’s unsold tickets (for a fraction of the face value) and give them to charity. So Bucs fans will also likely miss the rest of their games on TV.

The blackout rule is archaic and ultimately counterproductive. Why wouldn’t an owner want as many people to consume his product – regardless of how – as possible? And is there a worse time to start blacking out games than when the team is losing and the economy sucks? (The Chargers are now 2-5.) The Chargers are already testing their fans’ loyalty with their play on the field. They don’t need to make things worse by making the games totally unavailable to them.

Fortunately for Spanos and the Chargers, there are still some diehard Charger fans like Kyle McCarthy, who founded Stop Charger Blackouts. McCarthy confesses that everyone in San Diego has been really excited about the organization, but that donations haven’t come in as quickly as needed. (Sounds familiar.) But maybe McCarthy and his friends can put enough pressure on Spanos to get him to buy the tickets or at least sell the tickets to Stop Charger Blackouts for the discounted charity rate.

Meanwhile, how about a Stop Buccaneer Blackouts? And a Stop Raider Blackouts? Better yet, how about Sports Fans Coalition starts a chapter in every city in America to address the blackouts and other local issues? (We’re working on it — if you’re interested in being a chapter chair, drop me a line.)

With enough pressure on the ground from fans and Sports Fans Coalition’s pressure on the FCC and elected officials here in DC, we can finally put an end to the sports blackout rule.

Not that we should have to.

–

Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and lives in Washington, D.C. Email him at bfrederick@sportsfans.org.

October 22, 2010

Rupert Murdoch
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
News Corporation
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036-8799

Dear Mr. Murdoch,

I am writing on behalf of the members of Sports Fans Coalition and sports fans everywhere. We would like you to let us watch our favorite games again.

On October 15, your company, News Corp., took down Fox programming from Cablevision subscribers. This means that sports fans with Cablevision have missed NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL games. Worse, some fans may miss the World Series.

On October 1, your company, News Corp., took down Fox regional sports programming from DISH Network subscribers. These fans have also missed NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NCAA games. And your company is threatening to remove all Fox programming by November 1, meaning that these fans may also miss World Series games.

We realize that there are two sides to every dispute. But your company chose to take down this programming knowing that it would harm sports fans. We ask you to please put these games back on and settle your disputes behind closed doors or with arbitration.

You are choosing to withhold these games and millions of sports fans continue to miss their games. Please find another way to settle these matters.

Thanks for your consideration,

Brian Frederick