Chargers Tickets Need to be Sold to Avoid Blackout

FCC votes to eliminate sports blackout rule

Three-thousand tickets are still available for Sunday’s Chargers-Jets game, and if they’re not sold, the game could be blacked out.

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday targeted the sports blackout rule, voting 5-0 to eliminate the longtime rule that prevents home sports game from being aired if the game isn’t sold out.

That doesn’t mean the blackouts will be gone for good, though, as the NFL has long backed them as a way to maintain robust ticket sales. Plus, they could still occur locally under existing contracts between the NFL and broadcasters, according to Politico.

Last Sunday’s Chargers-Jacksonville game was nearly blacked out until the last several thousand tickets were bought by a handful of local businesses.

If this Sunday’s tickets aren’t sold by Thursday, the game will be blacked out.

Last year, the only two NFL games were blacked out in local markets, including the Bengals against the Charges in San Diego on Dec. 1.

The FCC’s chairman said it’s time sports fans are able to watch the games they want.

“For 40 years, these teams have hidden behind the rule of the FCC,” FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said. “No more.”

An NFL spokesman said Tuesday the league is reviewing the rule change.

The spokesman said the league will work to “find new ways to bring more people to the game and bring the game to more people.”

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