The Sports Blackout Rule

As you may have heard the FCC is considering a petition from fan interest groups to rescind the NFL television blackout rules. They are accepting comments on the petition in an effort to determine whether to change the 35-year old rules.

The rule is now under its most significant attack to date and may not be long for this world. The FCC has officially begun the process of considering a new rule that would rescind the television blackout rule. In November 2011, five public interest groups submitted to the FCC a petition for rulemaking that would eliminate the sports blackout rule (PDF). On Thursday, the FCC submitted a public notice calling for comments about the petition (PDF). These are the first two steps in a lengthy process.

The FCC will consider new rules either through statutory mandate, agency identification of a problem, or a public petition. In this case, five groups submitted a public petition. The groups include Sports Fans Coalition, Inc., Public Knowledge, National Consumers League, League of Fans and Media Access Project.

The FCC has reviewed the petition and is now providing an opportunity for interested parties to submit comments on the matter. The FCC will accept responses to the petition until February 13, 2012. Replies to those responses will be allowed until February 28, 2012. This potential change in rules will receive comments from across the sports world, and not just from the NFL. Although the rule-change is aimed at the NFL, this has the possibility of impacting all four major sports.

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Now then, with that information being plopped on the table what does all of this mean? Well, if you are interested in reading the petition submitted to the FCC then click on the petition link above. That is a long legal document that you may find interesting - or not.

The second link is the FCC public notice. This tells interested parties how they can submit a comment to the FCC on the NFL blackouts. Comments may be submitted by USPS mail or electronically.

Here comes the tricky part: are you an interested party and would you like to weigh in on this issue? If you like football and the NFL blackouts piss you off, then you are an interested party and the FCC wants to hear from you. The FCC doesn't make that a particularly easy task, but the Oracle is here to help.

First off, whether submitting your comment by USPS mail or electronically you need to compose your comment separately as a MS Word document or a PDF. If you chose the postal service then you will need to print that document and send it to: 

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, SW 

Washington DC  20554

If you chose to send electronically you will have to upload your document as a PDF (wouldn't accept Word) at this web address:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=u3res

This page looks more intimidating than it really is, and after speaking with the FCC Media Information Group in Washington I discovered that this process is so easy even a caveman (see: Perry, Rick) could do it. Mouse over question marks for details.

1. Proceeding Number: this is the docket number listed on the Public Notice 12-3.
2. Contact Info: Just enter your name and ignore the rest.
3. Details: accept the defaults, making sure that the Type of Filing is COMMENTS. If not, change it.
4. Address: you are a filer and your address is required. I don't know why.
5. Documents: click on Choose File to upload your pre-written document.
6. Click Continue to continue.
7. This takes you to a page that asks you to Confirm or Modify your Submission.
8. Click Confirm.

This takes you to a page with the following information:

This confirmation verifies that ECFS has received and accepted your filing. However, your filing will be rejected by ECFS if it contains macros, passwords, redlining, read-only formatting, a virus, or automated links to other documents.

Filings are generally processed and made available for online viewing within one business day of receipt. You may use the link below to check on the status of your filing:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment/confirm?confirmation=201XXXXXXXXXX

For any problems please contact the Help Desk at 202-418-0193.

There now, that wasn't so hard - just a colossal pain in the ass.

Here is the comment I submitted. Feel free to use it if you wish. I would enter your name and address at the bottom:

In the Matter of

 

Petition for Rulemaking to Eliminate the Sports Blackout Rule

I am in complete agreement with the PETITION FOR RULEMAKING submitted to the Federal Communications Commission, which states in part:

“At a time of persistently high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and consumer

uncertainty, the Sports Blackout Rule supports blatantly anti-fan, anti-consumer behavior by

professional sports leagues. 

The leagues often require a game to be blacked out from broadcast television if tickets to the game have not sold out.  The Commission then perpetuates the problem by requiring other TV distributors also to black out the game. 

The leagues are at the root of the problem because they currently charge exorbitant prices

for tickets, which in turn results in lower attendance.  The leagues then punish fans by blacking

out games from television because a few seats remain unsold. 

The Commission should not be propping up this anti-consumer behavior through the Sports Blackout Rule, particularly in such difficult economic times.”

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Editor's addendum at 5:50 PM: I checked on-line and my comment has been posted. My opinion is now a matter of public record and is taken seriously by the FCC.