Blackouts and NFL

                This NFL proved yet again this offseason why they are the number 1 league in professional sports, and one of the great businesses in the world.  They made a slight change in policy that seemed to address only small portion of the league is actually a response to the direction the NFL is going in general.  The decision that was made was to tweak the blackout rule so that the required attendance of a game so that it can be shown on television is changed from full capacity to 85% capacity; you can read more about the change here in this Wall Street Journal article. 

                As a Buffalo Bills fan I can tell you I couldn’t be more thrilled with the move.  Buffalo more than many teams in the NFL has problems consistently selling out because of the size of the stadium, state of the economy in the region, and most importantly the Bills normally horrible play on the field.  What this change should do is eliminate, or come close to eliminating the blackouts that the Bills consistently face in the 2^nd half of every season.  Actually the Bills on average played to 84.8% capacity last season so the 85% figure is almost a perfect figure for Bills fans who don't want to miss that many games.

                What this change really represents though is why the NFL is such a smart and efficient league.  There has been no sport that has been more TV friendly than the NFL, and the NFL has reaped the benefits of it with regard to their TV deals, which are so large that based on profits just from the TV deals alone, NFL teams are profitable.  The TV friendliness of the league comes at the cost to the league that the at home TV experience is actually better than going to the game.  This means that attendance will begin to drop and more than a few select teams like the Bills will have problems selling out games.  What this decision does is address the issue of declining attendance in the short-term, which shows the NFL realizes that it is a concern, while in the long-term buys them time to make a plan of action to combat the issue.  
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