First Local NFL Black Out Goes To.....

[jojo_collins]

Buffalo!!! This Sunday's (11/26) game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills have been blacked out in Buffalo and Syracuse, according to gribblenation.net. CBS will replace it with the Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens game. Because of the blackout, FOX is only showing them one game (even though they have the doubleheader), that game is the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots at 4:15 (ET).

 

[Jul]

That's a shame. The game can be heard on WGRF 96.9 FM in Buffalo with pre-game coverage at 8 AM Sunday

 

[dhett]

This is the first game this season to have not sold out in time to lift the blackout? That's amazing! Too bad it had to be Buffalo.

Don't worry - this season has been an anomaly for ticket sales with the Cardinals. I expect them to resume as king of the local blackouts next season.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Because of the blackout, FOX is only showing them one game (even though they have the doubleheader), that game is the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots at 4:15 (ET).

I'm pretty sure that even if JAX/BUF had sold out (and wasn't blacked-out),
Fox would still only be able to carry one (late slot) game since the Bills are
at home (early) on the singleheader network. IIRC, the Gribble maps had
BUF in "blackout white" for the 1:00 Fox earlier in the week.

Similar scenario in Phoenix last Sunday. Even though the Cardinals were sold out,
they were on the singleheader network so another game could not air opposite
it, so we (along with Frisco) got screwed out of the Indy/Dallas game.

 

[ThePickleReport]

I guess Buffalo was about 6 to 7000 seats shy. Too bad it's going to be 60 here on Sunday!!!

 

[johnnya2k6]

Here in Alaska, I don't seem to remember any Seahawks games being blacked out. Oh yeah...even though they're our regional team, we live far away from Seattle!

Jonathan Allen

 

[KML0224]

As for the blackout with the Bills game, shouldn't the markets affected read BUFFALO and ROCHESTER? I think Syracuse is far enough away to be out of that blackout zone.

 

[KeithE4]

As for the blackout with the Bills game, shouldn't the markets affected read BUFFALO and ROCHESTER? I think Syracuse is far enough away to be out of that blackout zone.

According to the Gribblenation map, the Jaguars-Bills game is only being carried in the Watertown and Binghamton/Elmira markets in New York. NYC & Albany are getting the Texans-Jets, and the rest of the state (including Syracuse) is getting the Steelers-Ravens on CBS.

I'll guess that all of NY state outside of the Buffalo market will be able to see the Bills game if they have Sunday Ticket, though.

Link: NFL Week 12 on CBS

 

[chuckydoll]

I think Syracuse is far enough away to be out of that blackout zone.

The WTVH-5 signal gets to within 75 miles of Ralph Wilson Stadium. That's why Syracuse viewers are seeing the Steelers today instead of the Bills.

Your next NFL blackout may very well be next Sunday in the Bay Area. Houston-Oakland is not likely to sell out, so the NFL moved the Jaguars-Dolphins game to 4:05 ET.

 

[Jul]

Game over: Bills won 27-24

Well the game is over and the Bills won 27-24 in a great game. Too bad Buffalo couldn't see the game and had to hear the radio broadcast of the game. I would complain to the CBS station in Buffalo WIVB-TV 4: http://www.wivb.com/ and ask them why they couldn't buy the rest of the tickets so this game can be aired on TV in the city?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

If you run a TV station and have 140,000 extra dollars (7,000 seats at $20 each) in your budget, your ownership needs its head examined. If it was 70 seats or something, sure, make it a staff perk. (TV stations probably already have several season tickets)

But 7000 seats is way far out there.

 

[bhayes1016]

If you run a TV station and have 140,000 extra dollars (7,000 seats at $20 each) in your budget, your ownership needs its head examined. If it was 70 seats or something, sure, make it a staff perk. (TV stations probably already have several season tickets)

Nosebleed seats are $44 per the Bills website. And from what I've heard, they have the cheapest single-game prices in the league.

 

[aarontabr]

Buffalo keeps loosing so may people, how can they continue to support the Bills and a 80,000 seat crumpling stadium? Either Ralph Wilson needs to cough up some dough for a new stadium, or move the team to LA.

 

[dhett]

They don't seat 80K anymore in a crumbling stadium. A major renovation in 1998 reduced the capacity to just a shade under 74K (still large by NFL standards) and upgraded the facility. At the same time, the Bills have launched an aggressive campaign to draw fans from Erie PA, and Rochester, Syracuse, and even Albany NY. They moved their training camp from SUNY Fredonia to St. John Fisher College in Rochester, to increase their visibility in a neighboring (and relatively prosperous) metro area of similar size.

(moving the comment back on-topic...)

Buffalo is one of the teams that really benefitted from the tightening of the NFL TV blackout rules. Before, fans in the eastern suburbs of Rochester could watch home games on the Syracuse stations. Eastside bars would use the game as a draw for customers. Now, if fans want to see home games that are blacked out, they have to attend in person. And many do - I heard once that Rochester-area fans make up about 25% of the ticket sales.

RE: PTBoardOp94's comment about stations buying tickets - IIRC, the TV stations would buy tickets if the game was close to a sellout (a few hundred tickets, but not 6K-7K) and donate them to charity, usually one involving children. The payoff? They get to broadcast the home game and get publicity (and a tax writeoff) for charitable works. And of course the human interest news story of the cute kids that got free tickets to the game.