J
Jul
Guest
This time, Vs the Chargers Sunday: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=4450
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That is really a bad sign. I think the worst thing for a sports franchise is fan apathy. When the game isn't seen by the fans, they can't rave, complain, etc. after the game with their pals and co-workers. By the way, there was an ad on the Bills website for JP Lohsman jerseys. Is anyone buying/wearing these?
hootmon said:
Welcome to the world of the Arizona Cardinals (except for this year, and probably this year only, with the new stadium). ;D
More likely, the fans just won't care. With the Bills being as bad as they are (but not as bad as Oakland, Arizona, and Detroit), people will watch whatever game is on, or their 2nd-favorite team if they have Sunday Ticket, or can watch it in a bar.
This is why the blackout is a very bad idea. It kills interest in the local team if they aren't very good. The owners of those teams hurt their own wallets by letting the blackouts continue.
J
Jul
Guest
The last 2 regular season home games might also be blacked out in Buffalo. As of earlier today: About 7,000 tickets remain for Miami on Dec. 17 and more than 10,000 for Tennessee on Dec. 24.
Julius May said:
I'd be surprised if the Miami game were blacked out - that's a huge rivalry game, especially if Buffalo can play spoiler to Miami.
Tennessee? Tennessee who? Bank on a blackout. Both teams are already for all intents and purposes out of playoff contention and in spite of the NFL (No Forward Lateral) game in the playoffs some years back, there has never been a real rivalry with Tennessee.
F
Frasier
Guest
dhett said:
And furthermore: The game is on December 24 - Christmas Eve - a Sunday, nonetheless, but still it wouldn't surprise me if people decided to spend quality family time rather than sit in subzero temperatures watching a meaningless game.
A
aarontabr
Guest
dhett said:
Since the Tennessee game will probably be blacked out, maybe the Bills fans can throw stones at Jeff Fisher
.this is really sad. Didn't Buffalo have a very long stretch of sellouts until just recently?
Also doesn't the NFL traditionally throw out the blackout rules on Christmas Eve?
The NFL is the most popular of the professional sports leagues but its not going to be for long, especially with stupid blackout rules, rules for home football games, and these NFL Network games.
Also doesn't the NFL traditionally throw out the blackout rules on Christmas Eve?
The NFL is the most popular of the professional sports leagues but its not going to be for long, especially with stupid blackout rules, rules for home football games, and these NFL Network games.
Brian Donegan said:
Actually, the combination of large stadium/weak local economy/small market (though they do draw fans from neighboring markets including Toronto) has made blackouts an un-rare phenomenon for the Bills. Even when they were the colossus of the AFC in the early 90's, they had some _playoff_ games blacked out, the most famous being the "comeback" game against Houston in 1992.
I would agree that the NFL is alienating fans with the stupid blackout rules and the NFL Network fiasco, but since other major pro sports are following similar asinine policies (NASCAR about the only exception) I wouldn't count on the NFL being displaced as the most popular pro sport in America anytime soon.
I don't think the NFL ever threw out TV blackout rules on any day. Occasionally, if it's really close to a sellout, they'll grant a 24-hr extension, but if the game isn't sold out by then, no dice. The NFL has a valid argument: how do you expect to sell something, if you're just going to give it away anyway? Until the 1970s, all home games were blacked out, regardless of whether or not they sold out. The networks had to drag the NFL, kicking and screaming, to the current agreement, although IMO, it's been a benefit to the NFL.Brian Donegan said:
Back in the early days of television, a rival league to the NFL, the AAFC, experimented with televising games (the NFL has always relied on rival leagues for original thought - they've never been innovators themselves). The experiment included televising home games, with unsatisfactory results. Fans didn't show up for games when they could get them on local TV.
Even the NFL has had some problems with the existing blackout rules, although they have always been under special circumstances, usually bitter cold or stormy weather. A team will sell out in time to lift the blackout, but fans who would otherwise have come to the game would instead stay home and watch on TV. But those have been rare instances.
I'd forgotten that the game was blacked out. But I remember watching part of the game, but I missed the comeback part due to an appointment I'd had that evening. I must have picked it up from WSTM in Syracuse then. Back then, Syracuse could show Buffalo Bills home games; the NFL has changed that ruling since - it must have been shortly afterward, because I left the Rochester area in 1993, and they had already changed the rules by then.EnbyCee said:
What I find alienating about the NFL are the cable-only games, be it the NFL Network or ESPN, and the rules that say that when a team is at home, the home market cannot get three games if the team doesn't sell out, or if the team does sell out, but the doubleheader is on the other network. Phoenix and the Bay Area were the only markets that didn't get the Dallas/Indy game.EnbyCee said:
dhett said:
They lifted the blackout for the week they returned after 9/11, and for all Saints games last year. Those are the only ones I can think of.
The AAFC played from 1946-49. I'd be very surprised if there were enough TV viewers outside of NYC to make a difference at the gate in those days - even in bars, where most TVs were in those days.
KeithE4 said:
I didn't know the 9/16/01 games - I was driving from Phoenix to Reno that day, having just landed a temporary job there. Were the Cards at home?
KeithE4 said:
The team that I had read about was the Los Angeles Dons. I think Chicago and LA would have also had enough TVs. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the reference to cite.
KeithE4 said:
The blackouts were also lifted for the "replacement" games during the '87 strike.
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Frasier
Guest
dhett said:
There were no games on 9.16.01. At all. Those games were postponed to the week after the originally scheduled Week 17, which would bump the Super Bowl into February for the first time (it would return in February for good a couple years later).
Foe Paw said:
Yes, it was the Sept. 16 & 17 games that were postponed. The week I was talking about where the blackout was lifted was 9/23, Week 3. The Cards played the Denver Broncos on Sunday night in Tempe - their first game of the season (Week 1 was their bye-week that year and Week 2 was the one that was postponed). The blackout was lifted and the game was broadcast in Phoenix. Of course, the Cards lost. ;D
You're all correct - given my circumstances at that time, my memory's kinda fuzzy. I'd forgotten how things went down, but now I remember the debate about whether or not to play, and someone mentioned that Pete Rozelle regretted not canceling the games the Sunday after the Kennedy assassination in 1963.
Still, the point of all this is that it has required extraordinary circumstances for the NFL to lift the blackout rule completely. I can see their business reason for having the blackout, and think that they have it right the way they do it now. Unlike the other sports where you have 40-80 home games, the NFL only has 8, so each home game means something. The NFL has been flexible in giving teams an additional 24 hours to sell out and lift the blackout.
Still, the point of all this is that it has required extraordinary circumstances for the NFL to lift the blackout rule completely. I can see their business reason for having the blackout, and think that they have it right the way they do it now. Unlike the other sports where you have 40-80 home games, the NFL only has 8, so each home game means something. The NFL has been flexible in giving teams an additional 24 hours to sell out and lift the blackout.
dhett, you're right about the NFL's lack of originality. The NFL watched the AFL and the USFL, plus colleges and HS's, use the 2-point conversion before taking the plunge itself in 1994(?). The NFL also let the AFL (and some MLB teams and even the NBA's Lakers IIRC beat it to putting players' names on their backs.
ixnay
ixnay
H
Horns
Guest
Jacksonville reduced the size of their stadium by about 5,000 seats this year to keep local black-outs from happening. Another rather small media market with a large stadium problem.
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