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| Mignon Clyburn |
FCC Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn has introduced a
proposal to end the agency’s nearly 40-year-old sports blackout rule, saying
that changes in the marketplace have “raised questions” about whether they are
still in the public interest, according to Variety.
Clyburn said that she circulated her proposal to other
commissioners about eliminating the rules. Those rules vary widely according to
the various professional sports leagues.
For the NFL, the blackout rule prevents local TV station
owners from carrying home games for NFL teams unless all tickets to the game
were sold out, under the rationale that the prospect of being able to watch the
game on TV would dampen ticket sales. For Major League Baseball and the NHL,
the focus is on protecting local stations with home-team rights, resulting in
market-specific blackouts at times for national outlets such as ESPN and Fox.
If a broadcast game is blacked out, cable and satellite companies are prevented
from airing the game.
“Changes in the marketplace have raised questions about
whether these rules are still in the public interest, particularly at a time
when high ticket prices and the economy make it difficult for many sports fans
to attend games. Elimination of our sports blackout rules will not prevent
sports leagues, broadcasters and cable and satellite providers from privately
negotiating agreements to black out certain sports events.”
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