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"One of the biggest hits in the NFL this week was to the league\u2019s reputation as its blackout policy got a high-profile black eye.Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was pushing for a change to the policy as the threat of a TV blackout of the Bengals-Chargers playoff game hung in the balance. That was until corporate sponsors stepped up to buy the remaining game tickets before the league deadline Friday afternoon.\u201CIf the Bengals had built the stadium and paid for it themselves and didn\u2019t benefit from all kinds of public assistance, in that way, maybe it would be a different story,\u201D Brown said.Brown has been pushing for the league to change its policy.\u201CI\u2019m not going to introduce a bill; I don\u2019t want to go that far.\u00A0 I don\u2019t want to put that kind of congressional time into this, but I do think there\u2019s a public interest here,\u201D Brown said.Individual TV contracts make the reality of ending blackouts unlikely, even though the FCC is tackling the issue.In response to Brown\u2019s proposal, the NFL said it will\u00A0\u201Cstrongly oppose any change in the rule. We are on pace for a historic low number of blackouts since the policy was implemented 40 years ago. While affecting very few games in the past decade, the blackout rule is very important in supporting NFL stadiums and the ability of NFL clubs to sell tickets and keeping our games attractive as television programming with large crowds.\u201DSome believe Congress should play a role in reeling in the league.\u00A0\u201CI don\u2019t feel embarrassed at all that something like this, which is so unfair, could be the subject of congressional regulation. Why not?\u201D Cincinnati Vice Mayor, and former congressman, David Mann said.Mann said the NFL gets away with practices and policies that other companies cannot.\u00A0\u201CAll the professional teams through the NFL are working together, and my understanding is that without sufferance from the federal government, that comes pretty close to violating antitrust laws,\u201D Mann said."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wlwt.com/article/bengals-blackout-fears-fuel-talks-of-scrapping-nfl-rule/3538338>