NFL needs to dump blackout rule; outdated and dumb; Saturday media notes

There is nothing more antiquated and ridiculous as the NFL's pathetic blackout rule involving whether or not a home game is televised in any of the league's various cities.

The current rule states that a game must be "sold out" 72 hours in advance in order for it to be on TV in the home market. The rule is not only impractical, but given the state of the economy, petty and a PR nightmare for many of the league's teams playing in area's hit hard by the recession.

Beyond that, even those franchises who routinely sell out their home games are few and far from those organizations that are experiencing the embarrassment and humiliation of not being able to see their team play on a given Sunday.

Those cities include Oakland, Jacksonville, Glendale, (Arizona,) St. Louis, Detroit, Miami, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, San Diego, and yes, even the SF 49Er's, (more on that later)

Even as unemployment takes a slight dip and the economy appears headed out of the wilderness, the cost of attending an NFL game is staggering for many. And a good deal of the teams that have struggled to fill their stadiums are entrenched in the heart of states still suffering from the dire economic conditions.

Detroit is one of those cities, where the unemployment rate in Michigan is staggering, due largely to the automobile industries problems and manufacturing woes. Also hit hard are the Florida teams, where the foreclosure crisis has been front and center.

Even some of those franchises that are selling out their buildings are doing so because the team's are buying out the remaining unsold seats for nickels on the dollar.

The 49Er's can boast all they want about a history of "non-blackouts", but what many fans don't know is that the York owners routinely shell out $$ for unsold tickets to many games that are 5-7000 short of actual "sellouts." They are not alone in that dept.

San Diego, Atlanta, and Arizona's front offices are among the teams who have had to buy out remaining seats so the blackout rule would not affect their teams.

This is a stupid rule. And in a league that is ultra-sensitive about its image, the NFL should be embarrassed by this completely out-of-touch, frankly, petty behavior. How can Roger Goddell want to project himself as a breath of fresh air when he allows this idiotic financial quagmire to continue. It's a bygone, byzantine formula that needs to be reformed, if not outright thrown out of the league's policy.

How sad and again, petty, can the NFL be perceived, if fans in Detroit and/or Buffalo and Oakland be denied to see THEIR teams play? What, by golly, are they supposed to do if, get this?, they can't afford to go to the game? Can not the league acknowledge that a good many of their fans may have lost their job?

Beyond that, what about the kids that live in poor cities that are being denied the chance to see their beloved heroes play? Dumb NFL!, dumb!

The NFL is suffering from delusions of grandeur. They're PR people clearly have no concept of the hurt out there, affecting millions of people. Millions, by the way, who in this depressed atmosphere, who look forward to watching a game as their sole sporting salvation because they simply don't have the financial means to take themselves, let alone their family to the game.

I suspect if the league's NY teams begin to experience attendance problems and the prospect of blacked-out games in the #1 market, the NFL will begrudgingly have to explore this stupid blackout rule. Fat chance for a while, as both the Jets and Giants move into their brand-new stadiums next year.