Please explain the NFL Broadcast rules in NYC area

October 23, 2005 11:22 PM

NYC Football Filter - Can anyone explain the reason that TV stations block all other NFL games while the Giants and Jets play? More You Know Where

After 15 years living in the city, now I just have to know. In the places i grew up (Texas), you got 2 games at 1pm (1 AFC, 1 NFC) and two games at 4pm (1 AFC, 1 NFC). In Manhattan however, if the Jets play at 1pm on CBS, then Fox goes to MASH or Momma's Family or some other infuriating substitute. Then when the Giants play at 4, CBS goes to Wide World of Needlecraft or something. Yesterday, because the Jets play on MNF this week, we get football on both FOX and CBS at 1pm, but as soon as the Giants start to play at 4, Fox goes to Prison Break rather than broadcasting the Cowboys/Seahawks game that everyone else gets.

Now I understand the blackout rules, but that isnt happening here. Giants and Jets tickets are sold out for decades. They are blacking out the OTHER teams. Are there not enough Giants and Jets fans in this city of 8 million plus?

Sorry for the long long long winded question, but can someone shed some light over here?

posted by provocateur to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 comments total)

The TV rules for NFL games stipulate that no game is shown on TV opposite the game for the local team. In New York, that means no game opposite the Giants at 1pm and no game opposite the Jets at 4pm. If the Giants or Jets play on Sunday night or Monday night, then you get a Jets game at 1pm, and games on both CBS and Fox at 4pm.

This happens in other cities. In Dallas (where I grew up), there is never a game opposite the Cowboys. So you get the Cowboys at noon, and then two games at 3pm.

I think the rule is in place to grow local support, regardless of whether the game is sold out or not.

To make this even longer, these are the official rules:

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Official NFL Blackout Rules


Glossary of Terms

* Franchised Market - television market (ADI or DMA) that has an NFL franchise (i.e. Buffalo, NY or Phoenix, AZ).

* Secondary Blackout Market - television market in the home territory (with station(s) having signal penetration to within 75 miles of the game site) of an NFL franchise that is subject to blackout restrictions.

* Early Game - Game with kickoff at 1:05 p.m. (Eastern Time).

* Late Game - Game with kickoff at 4:05 or 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time).



Blackout Policy
To ensure an NFL club's ability to sell all of its game tickets, and to make televised games more attractive to viewers through the presence of sellout crowds, the following policy is observed by the NFL:

For a home game to be aired locally in the franchised market and in any secondary blackout market(s), the game must be sold out 72 hours in advance of kickoff. If the game is not a sellout by the 72 hour cutoff, both the home franchised market and the secondary markets of the carrying network will air an alternate game.

Number of Games in a Market
With regard to the number of NFL games seen in a particular market on a Sunday afternoon, there are three different situations.

1. An NFL franchised market (i.e. New York, Chicago, Dallas, etc.).
On a week when the NFL team (or teams) in a market is on the ROAD Sunday, Monday or Thursday night or Saturday afternoon, the market will receive three Sunday afternoon games... two telecasts by the network with the doubleheader week and one game by the network with the single game week. When an NFL team in the market is playing at HOME on Sunday afternoon, the market will receive two games... one game on FOX and one game on CBS, regardless of which network has the doubleheader week. Unless 1) the home team's assigned telecaster that day (CBS or FOX) is also on the doubleheader network and 2) the game is sold out 72 hours in advance. Then the three games would be the home team's and two other games in the remaining early or late window.


2. All other television markets (including secondary blackout markets).
Network affiliates in these markets will receive three games on Sunday afternoon, two on the doubleheader network (one early and one late) and one game on the single game network (either early or late).

Selection of Games to be Telecast Regionally
By network contract, all team road games must be telecast back to that team's home territory (franchised market and secondary blackout markets).

Other than the above requirement, the televising network is the sole selector of which game(s) will be aired in all markets.
posted by stovenator at 11:48 PM on October 23, 2005

On a slightly related note, this site has maps showing which games are shown locally in which parts of the country.
posted by toxic at 11:58 PM on October 23, 2005

Toxic, that link is fantastic. There are some anomalies that are fantastic to analyze. For instance, why does northern Alaska get a different game than the rest of the state some weeks, and how do they pick it?
posted by kyleg at 1:28 AM on October 24, 2005

Er, second fantastic=fascinating. So much for preview.
posted by kyleg at 1:28 AM on October 24, 2005

Now is this "no game broadcast against the home team's game" rule relatively new? The amount of time I've spent watching football has gone way down in recent years, but I'm with provocateur in being almost certain that where I grew up (the "franchised market" of Minneapolis) there used to be doubleheaders on both networks almost every Sunday.
posted by epugachev at 1:36 AM on October 24, 2005

While I don't have the specifics at hand, they have changed the rules pretty recently, and the number of televised "doubleheaders" has been reduced in recent years. This change has done more than anything else I can think of to reduce my interest in the NFL.
posted by Zonker at 5:51 AM on October 24, 2005

Thanks, stovenator. You dont get more thorough than that. I grew up in Houston (mostly) and could swear that, although you always saw the Oilers (and Cowboys), you could always see the other games as well. Ah youth...
posted by provocateur at 6:34 AM on October 24, 2005

what really makes no sense to me is that they'll actually cut out of a compelling 1pm game to go to the start of a jets or giants game at 4 pm. I mean what kind of sport leaves a good game at the end just to go to the kickoff of the home team's game. I mean why show the game at all if you have to leave at the end.
posted by alkupe at 7:03 AM on October 24, 2005