Video Blog-Bills Handcuffed By New Blackout Rules
By: Thad Brown
Updated: July 14, 2012
The Bills have decided against participating in the NFL's new blackout program, which allowed teams to show games on local TV even if only 85 percent of tickets are sold.
Instead, Buffalo games will only be televised if the game is a complete sellout 72 hours before kickoff--the same policy used by the league for more than four decades.
If the Bills had opted for blackouts lifted at 85 percent, they would have been required to pay additional revenue sharing on every ticket sold over that threshold. A total cost of more than half a million dollars per season.
In addition, of the six Bills games blacked out over the past two seasons, only one--last December against Miami--reached 85 percent sold. The other five games didn't even come close.
The Bills had until Sunday to make a preliminary decision and Thad Brown says it's too early to make an accurate call. In our video blog, he wonders if the blackout rule change is any change at all.
Instead, Buffalo games will only be televised if the game is a complete sellout 72 hours before kickoff--the same policy used by the league for more than four decades.
If the Bills had opted for blackouts lifted at 85 percent, they would have been required to pay additional revenue sharing on every ticket sold over that threshold. A total cost of more than half a million dollars per season.
In addition, of the six Bills games blacked out over the past two seasons, only one--last December against Miami--reached 85 percent sold. The other five games didn't even come close.
The Bills had until Sunday to make a preliminary decision and Thad Brown says it's too early to make an accurate call. In our video blog, he wonders if the blackout rule change is any change at all.
