The NFL has changed its rules on local TV blackouts in the home team's market. The previous rule was that the home team needed to sell out their games of apply to the league for an exception if they wanted the game to be shown on local television. However, now they no longer have to sell out games, but instead simply sell out 85 percent of the tickets if they want to game to be shown on local television. This has been coming for a long time since attendance has waned over the past five years, and the teams were thankful for the new rules.
The measure was approved by owners in May at the NFL Annual Meeting. Clubs do not necessarily have to do this, and regardless of whether they do or not, it will only affect a few teams, since only around six percent of the games were blacked out last year. Twenty years ago the blackout rates on games were much higher, at around thirty percent. The blackout is not intended as a hardship for anyone, but it instead meant to get fans to attend the games in person, rather than watching them on television.
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