Sports Blackout Rules

In this document, the Commission eliminates the sports blackout rules for cable operators, satellite carriers, and open video systems. Elimination of the sports blackout rules will remove unnecessary and outdated regulations and remove regulatory reinforcement (and the Commission's implicit endorsement) of the NFL's private blackout policy, which deprives consumers of the ability to view on television the teams that they have subsidized through publicly-funded stadiums and other tax benefits. Elimination of the sports blackout rules may not end all sports blackouts. To the extent that the NFL (or any other sports league) chooses to continue its private blackout policy, it will no longer entitled to the protections of the sports blackout rules. Instead, it must rely on the same avenues available to any other entity that wishes to protect its distribution rights in the private marketplace.