FCC Votes Unanimously to End Its Blackout Rule

[Infield Infidel]

Ajit Pai, an FCC commisioner gave a speech today in Buffalo about the FCC blackout rules. He wants to end the FCC's involvement with sports blackouts. 
 

Late last year, the FCC announced that it would consider eliminating its sports blackout rule. League blackout policies can  prohibit local television broadcast stations from airing games. And if the local stations can’t broadcast it, the FCC’s blackout rule prohibits cable and satellite companies (within a local blackout zone) from carrying it. This hurts fans who can't go to the game. 
. . .
So this afternoon, I'm asking the FCC to hold an up-or-down vote on ending the sports blackout rule. I'm hoping my fellow commisioners will join me in voting to eliminate it. 
 

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/8/12/5995409/nfl-blackout-rule-fcc-roger-goodell
 
The league could still prohibit local over-the-air TV broadcasts if there isn't a sellout, but Pai wants to end the FCC cable/satellite blackouts that go along with the local blackout.

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

What took so long?
 
This seems like an application of common sense.

 

[Saints Rest]

What took so long?
 
This seems like an application of common sense.

You answered your own question.
 
Does this apply to the NFL only?  Or would it change thee FOx Saturday Baseball blackouts?
 
RE:  The NFL, how would this work in a specific instance?  Aren't all games (with the exception of Thursday Night Football on NFLN or Monday Night Football on ESPN shown only on over-the-air TV (i.e. CBS, NBC, Fox)?  

 

[Infield Infidel]

IIRC, the MNF and TNF games are shown over the air in the local areas, unless there's a blackout. I think for those games, if you had cable in those areas, you would get the games, blackout or not. 
 
I'm not sure how it would work for normal weekend games, since the cable provider normally just shows the local station, who would be blacking out the game. Could the cable provider override the local station and show some kind of national feed?

 

[Dehere]

I feel like I'm missing something when this rule gets discussed. It seems like all this means is that blackout policies would now be negotiated privately between leagues and media partners - appropriately IMO - and although there would no longer be FCC mandated blackouts I don't think this would result in games becoming newly available to consumers.

Take Sunday Ticket for example. DirecTV would still have to negotiate their rights with the NFL, and those rights would very likely require DirecTV to continue to observe over-the-air blackout policies. All you're doing is saying that blackouts that were previously an FCC requirement will now be enforced via private negotiation.

It's a superfluous rule and I'm for doing away with it but I'm not seeing the practical implications.

 

[Infield Infidel]

updated the thread title http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/30/fcc-unanimously-dumps-blackout-rule/
 

 
“This is a historic day for sports fans,” Sports Fans Coalition chairman David Goodriend said in a release.  “Since 1975, the federal government has propped up the NFL’s obnoxious practice of blacking out a game from local TV if the stadium did not sell out.  Today’s FCC action makes clear:  if leagues want to mistreat fans, they will have to do so without Uncle Sam’s help.”
It doesn’t mean the blackout rule has died; the NFL and broadcast networks can agree to abide by its terms.  Today’s decision means only that the NFL can’t insist on network blackouts via an FCC policy that previously gave the NFL the ability to pull the plug.