FCC To Vote Later This Month On Ending NFL Blackout Rules

FCC Chair Tom Wheeler in an editorial posted on USATODAY.com writes the agency "will vote" on a proposal to end the NFL blackout rules on Sept. 30. Wheeler argues the rules are "obsolete and have to go." Blackouts are a "bad hangover from the days when barely 40 percent of games sold out and gate receipts were the league's principal source of revenue. Last weekend, every single game was sold out" (USATODAY.com, 9/9).

However, NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy said that Wheeler's position is "at odds with almost 20,000 fans who have petitioned the agency to uphold the rule through the 'Protect Football on Free TV' campaign" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/9).