Should the NFL eliminate the blackout rule?

[Poiuyt]

Vikings get final blackout extension

The NFL has given the Minnesota Vikings one last chance to sell out the Metrodome for Sunday's playoff game against Philadelphia.

The Vikings have until 4:30 p.m. EST on Saturday to sell the remaining 3,100 tickets to avoid a television blackout in local markets.

more-

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3806380

The NFL is bending over backwards to help the Vikings sellout the stadium. Why don't they just eliminate the rule and be done with it.

[Awsi Dooger]

1. Blackout any game with Dan Dierdorf calling it

I don't ask for anything else

[Forkboy]

3. "Effectisity."

'nuff said on Dan. :)

[mascarax]

13. I can *totally* get behind that!

It still irritates me that he's in the Hall of Fame.

[hughee99]

2. Teams that can't sell out home playoff games should be relocated. n/t

[Forkboy]

4. Yes, they should.

Which means, no, they won't.

[mduffy31]

5. Especially the Viqueens

I hate them more than life itself. If the bandwagon fanbase can't get on board for the first playoff game in 9 years, they don't deserve a team

[trotsky]

7. Shall we call Wisconsin's team the Paqueers?

How about the obvious Fudgepackers?

Yeah we talk a lot of smack here in the Sports forum, but let's try to leave the homophobic shit out of it, mmmkay?

And for the record, the Bush/Pawlenty economy has a lot more to do with the sellout difficulties than Vikings fans' commitment to their team. (BTW, the game did sellout this morning.)

[mduffy31]

12. Well homophobia has nothing to do with it

That is what you wanted to make out of it, and that is your deal.

[trotsky]

15. There's plenty of smack to be talked

without having to descend to that level.

[Goblinmonger]

16. Homophobia or sexism

Take your pick.

[joeybee12]

6. In this economy, yes, because it sounds like a lot of the sell-outs were

helped by corporate sponsors, and expect that to dry up. The Vikings are the first with this problem, but they won't be the last.

[sniffa]

8. No

If you can't support your team you shouldn't get to watch them for free.

I say this as a long time Pats fan who had to listen on the radio to follow home games.

[Cush]

9. not everyone can afford tickets, so why should they be penalized?

there are always people who will go, so its not like people will just stop if the rule is lifted

[sniffa]

10. I can't afford tickets

[Captain Hilts]

17. The rule seems...archaic in an age where the NFL is so wealthy from TV money.

Does it matter if the stadium is a sell-out??

No, it doesn't.

There were a lot of empty seats in Miami yesterday.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. That's My Take, Too

The teams make at least as much money from TV revenue than they do from ticket sales. If a stadium is 85% full, they only take a 7.5% hit (at most), but are diminishing the value of future TV contracts. I think it's a poor business decision.
GAC

[AsahinaKimi]

11. I gave up my season tickets..

$55.00 per game, ten games per season. That's some serious cash. I couldn't afford it. The 49ers
office called me for weeks and weeks trying to get me to renew. I wish I could have..Had great seats to the right of the field goal posts on the second level..but I had a part time job, I couldn't go to watch them in a sports bar this year.. I listened to the radio and went to the NFL website. I don't know if I will ever be able to afford season tickets again. :(

[mascarax]

14. Yes

I realize the Vikings did end up selling the tickets, but when it was that close -- and in this economy -- the NFL can play ball too -- especially in the playoffs. Don't we have enough bailouts?

Frankly, I think the NFL should impose a rule that the Worst NFL GM of All Time, Matt Millen, should be deported and not allowed to be seen ever again. I can get behind that rule (I was disgusted to see the man who spent years destroying a franchise yucking it up in the studio last night). And I'm not a Lions fan (or Vikings either). Millen disgusts me.

[LisaM]

18. Yes to both, eliminate the sellout rule and deport Matt Millen

I'm not sure where I'd like to see him go, but somewhere there's no football. I'd also like to see him spending the rest of his life cramming his frame into a mini Cooper - not sure why, but it seems fitting.

The NFL stadiums are all different sizes, are they not? So I think there should be some allowance made for that (I used to think that they should base it on the capacity of the smallest NFL stadium) but with such tough economic times, not to mention the sheer logistics of going to an NFL game these days, maybe they should make it 75% or something.