NFL loses blackout rule, more political heat coming
“And there could be a chance that the NFL may also be forced to pay taxes. Heaven forbid a multi-billion dollar industry loses its tax-exempt status, but that proposal alone probably gives Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones bouts of insomnia.”
If you really want to put the fear of God in the National Football League, then go write your U.S. Senator.
Quit sending Tweets to Mark Kiszla since he’ll block you and stop posting to the comments section on sports stories because only your Congressional representatives need to know that you aren’t happy with the state of America’s most popular game. Case in point: a recent story from Politico reporting that the FCC is ready to eliminate the blackout rule.
Raiders and Chargers fans are very familiar with this regulation that eliminates local NFL broadcasts when the team doesn’t sell enough tickets to games. The measure was designed to promote attendance, but as the article states, the FCC feels it unjustly punishes sports fans wanting to watch a game and it doesn’t want to be party to it anymore. Local ticket sales are important for NFL franchises, but they really can’t cry poverty if sellouts aren’t commonplace: the big money is made through the multi-billion dollar TV deals it has with ESPN, NBC, FOX and CBS.
The NFL’s revenue sharing structure makes sure that its 32 owners don’t need to clip coupons since each team split $6 billion in television revenue last season. In this scenario, ticket revenue is a scoop of ice cream on top of the huge money pie. The Politico article also stated that the NFL will be contending with the FANS Act, which, among other things, would remove the league’s antitrust exemption status if it allows blackouts during disputes between its broadcast and cable partners.
And there could be a chance that the NFL may also be forced to pay taxes. Heaven forbid a multi-billion dollar industry loses its tax-exempt status, but that proposal alone probably gives Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones bouts of insomnia.
The NFL may not care what one fan thinks, but its influence is eroding in Capitol Hill. Recent scandals make the NFL unpopular for politicians who are more susceptible to the winds of change so this would be a great time to air grievances to incumbents who are fighting to remain elected officials. One email can equal a hundred angry voices that are too lazy to do the same thing.
Granted, there are many other social issues going on, but if your disdain for what’s going on in the NFL will get you to participate in the political process, then let your voice be heard and see how quickly the NFL squirms if the feds take away some of its most important pieces of legislation.
