Comments on: NFL Sunday Ticket Blackouts to End Next Year

By: The Florida Masochist

The Florida Masochist — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 19:36:26 +0000

Miami Dolphins prediction and some sports notes

The Dolphins are playing their game tonight rather than on Sunday. This is due to Hurricane Wilma. This is the team's first Friday night game in 22 years but one of a half dozen times in last 12 years that Miami has had to re-schedule a game due to we...

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:41:57 +0000

Scott in CA: The NFL owns the broadcast rights to its product and sells them with conditions. Football games are a private good, not a public one. The NFL has the right to control who gets its signal every bit as much as it has the right to deny entrance to the stadium to those without a ticket.

If a barkeep legally obtains a signal, he can watch whatever game he wants. He can't, however, charge people to watch a game the he's accessing for "his own personal use," though. He can likely purchase the rights to do so.

By: Scott in CA

Scott in CA — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 15:32:17 +0000

I've never understood why a private company, such as a sports team, has the power to regulate what is shown on local TV. Here in the Bay Area, the citizens of Oakland and Alameda County have wasted a fortune on land and facilities for the Oakland Raiders. But because ticket sales are low, the people who paid for the team and their stadium are blacked out and unable to see what they paid for. Sports teams should have NO say in where their games are broadcast, if they ARE broadcast. We even have NFL lawyers here in CA telling bars to turn off a game that's coming in over the air from another city where it isn't blacked out. Who gives the NFL the authority to tell a barkeep what channel to put his TV on? This ridiculous special treatment for sports needs to end. Along with subsidies, publically financed stadiums, etc. Build it yourself, guys.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:24:48 +0000

As a Dolphin fan, I find not being able to watch the game on Sunday Ticket tonight highly annoying. Also, James, I'd like to thank you for this info -- since I could not readily find it from the news sources I usually check. Glad you popped on Google News.