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Chargers at risk despite blackout ruling

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Chargers games can still be blacked out, even after a significant ruling Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

The Federal Communications Commission voted 5-0 to repeal its policy on local sports blackouts. Since 1975, the government body barred cable and satellite operators from televising a sporting event in the same market a local television station had the event blacked out. The FCC called its practice “no longer justified” in the modern sports climate.

How the ruling will curb NFL blackouts remains to be seen.

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The league has its own private policy, protected by federal antitrust exemption. Under this policy, any game that hasn’t sold a certain percentage of non-premium tickets within 72 hours of kickoff is subject to local blackout, affecting television signals that reach within a radius up to 75 miles of the game.

Blackouts, in recent years, have affected San Diego more than most markets.

Ten Chargers games were blacked from 2010 to 2013. On Tuesday, hours after the vote, the team announced about 3,000 general tickets are unsold for Sunday’s game versus the Jets. While not mentioning the word “blackout,” it said in a media release the game would be shown locally on CBS 8 “if the remaining tickets are sold.”

In the future, the NFL may face additional pressure to soften its stance.

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced a bill last year called the Furthering Access and Networks for Sports (FANS) Act. It seeks to retract language in the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, effectively removing the federal antitrust exemption for leagues that allow sports blackouts.

“Now, the NFL really starts to sweat because you’re talking about the antitrust laws that have been amended to protect its business,” said David Goodfriend, chairman of the Sports Fans Coalition, in a Tuesday phone interview. “At what point does it become more of a problem for (the NFL) than a benefit to keep fighting it? At some point, they have to be willing to say, ‘Guess what: It’s just not worth it. We’re going to get rid of the blackout policy altogether.’ ”

“I urge the NFL to rescind its policies that continue to allow blackouts,” McCain said in a statement Tuesday, “or else Congress will act on this issue.”

The Chargers avoided a blackout last Sunday versus the Jaguars.

It took some help. With about 5,000 unsold tickets at the 72-hour deadline, the team solicited help from local sponsors — CBS 8, Union Bank, Donovan’s Steak & Chop House, the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians, and the Brigantine Family of Restaurants — to guarantee the purchase of enough remaining tickets to put the game on TV.

The NFL had a record-low two blackouts in 2013. One was in San Diego on Dec. 1 versus the Bengals. The Chargers dodged a number of others, including a Monday Night Football game versus the Colts, through similar external means.

Among fans, a blackout threat is considered an unpopular tactic to push ticket sales.

While those sales remain especially important to franchises like the Chargers, whose top source of local revenue is ticket sales, not stadium signage, the NFL collects $6 billion in television revenue per year, according to the FCC. A portion of the revenue from the television contracts, which run through 2022, is equally distributed between all 32 teams.

“The Commission’s sports blackout rules are no longer justified in light of the significant changes in the sports industry,” the FCC said Tuesday in a statement, “since these rules were first adopted nearly 40 years ago. At that time, ticket sales were the primary source of revenue for the NFL, and most NFL games failed to sell out. ...

“Today’s action may not eliminate all sports blackouts because the NFL may choose to continue its private blackout policy. However, the NFL will no longer be entitled to the protection of the Commission’s sports blackout rules. Instead, the NFL must rely on the same avenues available to other entities that wish to protect their distribution rights in the private workplace.”

The NFL issued a statement in response to the FCC ruling.

It pointed to the decreased frequency of blackouts. Before the two in 2013, there were 15 in 2012, 16 in 2011 and 26 in 2010. There have been no blackouts through the first four weeks of the current NFL season.

“NFL teams have made significant efforts in recent years to minimize blackouts,” a league spokesman said via email. “The NFL is the only sports league that televises every one of its games on free, over-the-air television. The FCC’s decision will not change that commitment for the foreseeable future.”

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