There's been all kinds of offseason news but here's one that I haven't seen played up too much, a slight change to the blackout rules:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... 56152164/1
Attendance has been declining despite the popularity of the sport. Presumably ratings are doing better but given the economic doldrums and the rising costs to attend NFL games, it shouldn't be surprising.
NFL is going to try to attract fans back to the stadiums with such things like making sure fans at the stadiums can see all the replays they would see at home. New stadiums are getting high-tech amenities like Wifi networks and perhaps mobile base stations or repeaters.The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the new blackout rule, noted that NFL attendance has dropped 4.5% since 2007.
Ticket prices averaged $77.34 per game last year, according to Team Marketing Report.
In Buffalo, where the Bills' final three home games of last season were blacked out, a congressman, Rep. Brian Higgins, spoke out against the NFL's blackout rule.
Last season, 16 NFL games were blacked out. In addition to Buffalo, Cincinnati had six, Tampa Bay five, and San Diego two.
But as new stadiums go up, more and more fans are begin priced out of being able to attend games, as PSLs are imposed, along with higher ticket prices.
