Blackouts Coming For Florida NFL Teams
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – The Sunshine State has long been a hotbed of football talent, but its professional teams are struggling to put fans in the stands for even regular season games.
That means fans that can't go to the game in person may not be able to see the games locally due to NFL blackout rules.
A blackout is invoked by the NFL if a team doesn't sell out a home game. It means the game can't be shown live in the home market of the team. So, if a game doesn't sell out, the game can be seen live in every market except the home team's market.
It's essentially a way to entice the local fans to come out to the stadium; instead of thinking they can watch the game in surround sound on a big-screen TV at home. But, it puts enormous pressure on the home team and other entities in the local market.
As of Friday evening, the Miami Dolphins said they have roughly 3,000 tickets unsold for the season opener, a Monday Night Football game against the New England Patriots. This comes after the Dolphins' final preseason game was blacked out on local television due to poor ticket sales.
Past week one, the Dolphins told CBSMiami.com that there are still 15,000 tickets available for the second home game against the Houston Texans on September 18.
But the Dolphins may be the only Florida team to sell enough tickets in Week One to avoid a local media blackout.
As of Tuesday, the Jacksonville Jaguars had more than 10,000 tickets available for the team's week one matchup against the Tennessee Titans, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal. The Jags have faced problems in the past with blackouts due to poor play leading to poor ticket sales.
Jaguars management believes the game may sell out because it's against a division rival and will be held on September 11th.
In Tampa, the Buccaneers will not be seen locally because upwards of 15,000 tickets are unsold, according to PewterReport.com. Making matters worse for the Buccaneers is that no Bucs game is officially sold out during the regular season.
Many times other businesses, media outlets, and other entities will buy up the remaining tickets to help ensure the game will be aired locally. The reason behind this is the advertising time in and around a Dolphins game is very valuable to everyone, and no one wants to lose that revenue.
During the Great Recession, it's become increasingly difficult to count on other businesses, or even fans, to sell out the stadium and that's leading to the blackouts that are coming across the Sunshine State.
