3 teams face playoff TV blackout

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CGI_Ram

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WHAT? People can slam STL all they want... but this would NEVER happen in St. Louis!

Also; what does it say about the NFL? Has the cost of attending a game reached the limit of affordability?

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...nd-packers-looking-to-avoid-playoff-blackouts

Blackouts aren't just a regular season thing, they can happen in the playoffs too and if the Bengals, Packers and Colts don't start selling more tickets soon, those three fan bases could be left in the dark this weekend.

The Bengals have just over 10,000 tickets they need to sell before Thursday's blackout deadline, according to Andrew Brown, the team's manager of ticket sales. Under NFL rules, a game has to sellout 72 hours before kickoff or it will be blacked out in the team's local market.

If the Bengals don't sell those 10,000 tickets, then the team's wild-card game against San Diego won't be shown locally in Cincinnati and right now, things are looking grim.

"NFL playoff games are rare and wonderful chances for communities to showcase their communities in front of a national TV audience of roughly 30 million viewers. The Club appreciates the support we are seeing and remains excited about next Sunday's game," the team said in a statement, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. "However, we need to be candid that -- unless the rate of daily sales increases -- we will not achieve a sellout, and the game will not be televised in Cincinnati, Dayton or Lexington, Ky., per NFL policy."

The Bengals aren't the only team struggling to sell playoff tickets. The Colts have over 6,000 tickets left for Saturday's game against Kansas City, according to the team's website. Under normal blackout rules, the Colts would have to sellout their game by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. ET. However, since Wednesday is a holiday, the NFL has granted Indianapolis an automatic 24-hour extension, so the Colts have until Thursday to sellout the game.

The Packers also have several thousand playoff tickets left, but it doesn't seem likely their game against San Francisco will be blacked out in Green Bay. The team had 40,000 playoff tickets available on Monday, but that number quickly went down to 13,000 by Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

There hasn't been a playoff blackout since the 2001 season when the Dolphins hosted the Ravens in the wild-card round. A Dolphins playoff game was also blacked out in 2000 and fans in Miami missed a Dolphins overtime win over Peyton Manning's Colts.

According to Sports Illustrated, the only other two playoff games to be blacked out since 1990 was a Packers at Lions game in the 1993 wild card round and an Oilers at Bills in the 1992 wild card. In the Buffalo-Houston game, Bills fans missed the team's famous comeback from a 35-3 second half deficit.

The good news for the Packers, Bengals and Colts is that the NFL will usually grant an extension if the league thinks progress is being made. In 2001, the Saints were granted an extension until Friday for a Saturday game.
 

den-the-coach

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IMO the NFL and made it far too comfortable to watch the game in the confines of your home. Now still nothing replaces the game day experience, but when you factor in the cost, travel and at time unruly people sometimes it's just better to stay home.

Again IMO St. Louis football fans get a bum rap because it's always stated that they are a "baseball" town, however, the Cardinals have not only been around much longer, but have had a large degree of success as well.

Give the Gateway City a team that competes year in and year out and they will come and throw in a retracable stadium as well. Bad weather keeps fans away too a retracable roof is the best of both worlds and gives you chance to host a Superbowl.
 
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duckhunter

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WHAT? People can slam STL all they want... but this would NEVER happen in St. Louis!

Also; what does it say about the NFL? Has the cost of attending a game reached the limit of affordability?

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...nd-packers-looking-to-avoid-playoff-blackouts

"NFL playoff games are rare and wonderful chances

They're only rare in certain cities. Others might question about how wonderful they are.

Truth in advertising: forgettaboutit.

As to your point, CGI, you may be right. As long as a corporation is paying for it and ultimately coming off taxes prices can be crazy.
 

RFIP

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The Packer one is a shocker for me. Those folks live in GB for this one reason only. Colts surprising too.

But in the end we all know some business will swoop in and buy up the tix so the game can be televised.
 

CGI_Ram

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The Packer one is a shocker for me. Those folks live in GB for this one reason only. Colts surprising too.

But in the end we all know some business will swoop in and buy up the tix so the game can be televised.

I couldn't believe it when I saw the Packers listed.

And to your last point... the businesses buying tickets... isn't that a red flag for the NFL?
 

V3

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Not surprised by Cincinnati. They don't support any of their teams very well. The other two surprise me though and tells me that if those two aren't selling out, there's an issue. The live experience just isn't as good as the one fans get at home nowadays. Soft seats, your own bathroom, cheaper/better food, no idiot fans around you screaming obscenities, no huge ticket prices or parking prices, no needing to walk a mile to get to the game from the parking lot, you can rewind plays over and over and skip commercials due to the DVR, and many times a better view on the TV than from the seats. And that's not even considering the economy. If the NFL doesn't start to realize this, more and more games will be blacked out.
 

RFIP

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I couldn't believe it when I saw the Packers listed.

And to your last point... the businesses buying tickets... isn't that a red flag for the NFL?

I HATE IT when the NFL announces attendance because its always tickets sold to make them look good. If "we" ever saw turn stile counts it would surprise a lot of people.
 

HE WITH HORNS

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This wouldn't happen in St. Louis, of course not, they would just sell their tickets to bears fans or whoever we were playing.
 

CGI_Ram

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This wouldn't happen in St. Louis, of course not, they would just sell their tickets to bears fans or whoever we were playing.

:yousure:

That's not very nice!
 

LesBaker

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It's startling that Green Bay, with Rodgers back, cannot sell out.

The NFL noticed that I'm sure. Prices has spiraled enough that the Packers can't fill the stadium for a playoff game against a team that they have to want to get revenge on.

Wow.......

EDIT
And that's just this weekend, we still have other weekends coming up. Three out of four not sold out is HUGE.
 

HE WITH HORNS

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Ah, feels like I'm back at stltoday. Gotta love the LA trolls. They're everywhere.

I'm not an LA troll, I live in AZ, so it doesn't bother me either way. I just want to see the dome filled with Rams fans instead of Bears fans when we play. Its disheartening to see half the crowd rooting for the other team in certain games.
 

V3

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I'm not an LA troll, I live in AZ, so it doesn't bother me either way. I just want to see the dome filled with Rams fans instead of Bears fans when we play. Its disheartening to see half the crowd rooting for the other team in certain games.

Fair enough. I take it back. There was another LA troll here in another thread which had me thinking it was starting to spread which is why it felt like I was back at the other site. Sorry bout that.
 

CoachO

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It's startling that Green Bay, with Rodgers back, cannot sell out.

The NFL noticed that I'm sure. Prices has spiraled enough that the Packers can't fill the stadium for a playoff game against a team that they have to want to get revenge on.

Wow.......

EDIT
And that's just this weekend, we still have other weekends coming up. Three out of four not sold out is HUGE.

That the Packers are stuggling to sell out a playoff game, sort of drives home the point that when teams don't win, the turnstiles stop turning

Given the Packers were without Rodgers for a much longer stretch than most expected, and that the team's W-L record suffered because of it, many of the "pre-sale" Playoff tickets offered to Season Ticket Holders went unclaimed.

Now, assuming the policy is similar to that of the Rams in years past, IF I let the deadline pass, and don't take advantage of my 1st right to purchase MY seats for the Playoff game(s), they go back on sale to the general public when they are released.

Now, as a season ticket holder who LIKES my seats, do I want to be forced into buying tickets which are already more expensive than regular season (the NFL sets the prices for the Playoffs) which are not going to be the same seats that I am accustomed to, much less likely to be in a different section altogether, or do I choose to just stay home and watch it on tv?
 

PowayRamFan

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The Packer one is a shocker for me. Those folks live in GB for this one reason only. Colts surprising too.

But in the end we all know some business will swoop in and buy up the tix so the game can be televised.

I think the weather MUST have something to do with this, gametime temps predicted to be hovering around ZERO. Living here in San Diego (76 is today's high) makes it easy to see why some of those tickets aren't selling. When they build the new stadium, sure hope it's got the trick roof on it...
 

theramsruleUK

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view from across the pond...

I cant imagine that the huge games within our Premier league (soccer) would ever fail to sell out, regardless of weather or however much a ticket costs etc.
It just confuses me that America's most popular sport doesn't sell out some of it's most important games?? Is college football a factor? Cos in the UK, College soccer doesn't even get a mention in the sport pages..?

Generally interested in this.. Sorry if it's naive.. :/
 

ram29jackson

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The Packer one is a shocker for me. Those folks live in GB for this one reason only. Colts surprising too.

But in the end we all know some business will swoop in and buy up the tix so the game can be televised.

what I was thinking...that said...so many people have the NFL package that they may not worry about that and don't really want to go to a hectic environment. That may sound dumb to some but its true of some people....the Rose Bowl was 7000 people short of sold out...not everyone needs or wants a live game
 

Angry Ram

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view from across the pond...

I cant imagine that the huge games within our Premier league (soccer) would ever fail to sell out, regardless of weather or however much a ticket costs etc.
It just confuses me that America's most popular sport doesn't sell out some of it's most important games?? Is college football a factor? Cos in the UK, College soccer doesn't even get a mention in the sport pages..?

Generally interested in this.. Sorry if it's naive.. :/

Economics, mostly. The value for watching it @ home vs. going to a game is much better. Also, to me it seems like American fans when they get rowdy get dangerous, while English fans are just rabid fans.

Personally I haven't been to an NFL game yet, but I want to...just to experience it.
 

theramsruleUK

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Economics, mostly. The value for watching it @ home vs. going to a game is much better. Also, to me it seems like American fans when they get rowdy get dangerous, while English fans are just rabid fans.

Personally I haven't been to an NFL game yet, but I want to...just to experience it.

Why is watching a game at home better than watching it live? Surely nothing beats watching it live? Especially during a playoff match!



Edit: Ahh i get what you mean, better value for seeing it at home.. my bad..

I still dont get how its not selling out though... People would sell there own mother to get a ticket to a big football game over in the UK?