Thousands of Bills fans who were able to see blacked
out Bills home games via a Syracuse TV station last year
"will be shut out" this fall, after the NFL informed CBS's
Syracuse affil, WTVH, that its blackout rule "prevents the
station from showing any Bills games that do not sell out 72
hours before kickoff," according to Batzold & Roth of the
Rochester DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE. The NFL's new
interpretation of the rule will affect "at least" 48,000
customers in upstate NY, and will "also hurt bars and
restaurants" that previously showed the games. Following
the NFL's new TV deals, league lawyers "looked closer" at
the 75-mile blackout radius and "found two markets" --
Syracuse and Biloxi, MS -- where the TV signal "was received
within 75 miles of an NFL stadium." Batzold & Roth reported
that although the situation "may aid the Bills' effort to
regionalize its market," team Treasurer Jeffrey Littmann
said that "it was the NFL that alerted the Bills to the
blackout rule infringement from Syracuse, not the other way
around." Littmann said the league found 10 Rochester bars
"picking up the Syracuse signal" (DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 8/6)
