The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to end the "blackout" rule that has rankled sports fans for decades by prohibiting cable and satellite broadcasters from showing games with lackluster ticket sales.
But does it matter what the FCC says? That's a different story.
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The FCC posted its proposal — sparked by urging from the non-profit Sports Fans Coalition — online Wednesday. The blackout rule is now most commonly associated with NFL games. Fans hate it because it can rob them of the ability to watch their favorite team from home on Sundays. The NFL contends that blackouts are necessary to protect its product and incentivize fans to attend games.
In its Wednesday announcement, the FCC called the rule outdated.
Changes in the sports industry in the last four decades have called into question whether the sports blackout rules remain necessary to ensure the overall availability of sports programming to the general public. In this proceeding, we will determine whether the sports blackout rules have become outdated due to marketplace changes since their adoption, and whether modification or elimination of those rules is appropriate.
Eliminating the rule would require an FCC vote, which the NFL and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have already publicly opposed it. NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told Mashable in an email that only one game has been blacked out this season.
"We will strongly oppose any change in the rule," McCarthy wrote. "We are on pace for a historic low number of blackouts since the policy was implemented 40 years ago. While affecting very few games the past decade, the blackout rule is very important in supporting NFL stadiums and the ability of NFL clubs to sell tickets and keeping our games attractive as television programming with large crowds."
Despite Wednesday's back-and-forth, however, here's the rub: As pointed out by Time's Jack Dickey, an FCC vote overturning the blackout rules that first took effect in 1975 wouldn't actually do anything concrete other than perhaps give disgruntled fans another talking point.
In fact, the FCC admits its own impotence in the proposal:
We recognize that elimination of our sports blackout rules alone might not end sports blackouts, but it would leave sports carriage issues to private solutions negotiated by the interested parties in light of current market conditions and eliminate unnecessary regulation.
The most "interested parties" other than fans here are the NFL and NAB. As noted above, they already oppose eliminating their blackout option.
However, the entire notion of sports TV blackouts may actually seem antiquated in coming years as streaming services and technology continue to hook fans. The NBA Development League already streams games on YouTube, and the NFL reportedly met with Google executives in August to discuss a similar arrangement.
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