Outdated NFL Rules on Televising Games Sell Out the Fans

If ever an early season Ram game figured to sell out in time to lift the local television blackout, it was Sunday’s against the Indianapolis Colts.

After all, this game marked the return of Eric Dickerson to Anaheim Stadium.

What’s more, the Colts were 4-0 during the exhibition season and lost only 30-24 to San Francisco last weekend. And the Rams are being called Super Bowl contenders.

Intrigue, plus a good matchup.

Things looked promising. Even if sales ended up a few thousand tickets short by Thursday at 1 p.m., 72 hours before kickoff, surely someone would buy the remaining tickets.

But, as The Times reported Tuesday, even if the game did sell out 72 hours in advance, the game couldn’t be shown in Los Angeles.

Yes, the National Football League’s antiquated television policies struck again.

Since the Raiders are playing at Kansas City Sunday, NBC is required to show that game in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. because the NFL requires all road games be televised in a team’s marketplace.

NBC, also televising the Ram game because the visiting team is in the AFC, can’t televise two games in L.A. Sunday for two reasons: (1) The Rams are playing at home, and (2) it is CBS’ week to show a doubleheader.

Don’t you love those NFL policies?

What, one has to wonder, was the NFL’s thinking when it made this weekend’s schedule? What if the Rams and Colts had sold out?

Val Pinchbeck, the NFL’s director of broadcasting who oversees the making of the schedule, said the league was told before the schedule came out in April that the Colts and Rams would not sell out.

“We made the schedule on that assumption,” Pinchbeck said Tuesday from New York.

Funny how things worked out.

The game fell 8,626 tickets short of selling out by Thursday’s deadline.

On Tuesday, Pinchbeck said 11,792 remained, although the day before, the Rams said only 9,000 were left.

“That was an error,” Pinchbeck said.

On Wednesday, Pinchbeck reported 9,000 tickets were left.

Said Pinchbeck: “We were confident the game would not sell out (in time to lift the blackout), and we have been proven right. It’s really a moot point.”

Although the NFL comes away relatively unscathed from the Rams-Colts situation, it points to a need for new television polices next season, when a new contract will take effect.

The last time the NFL eased its strict television policies, it took an act of Congress. Literally.

And that was back in 1973, when Congress drafted a law that required that any NFL game that sold out 72 hours in advance had to be televised into the local market.

The law was in effect for three years, and after that the NFL, pressured by Congress, adopted the 72-hour rule as a policy.

The policy allowing just one telecast per network in a market where a game is being played has been in effect since the mid-1960s.

The policy was originally designed to protect the franchises and ensure good attendance. It is long outdated.

For one thing, fans show up even if an NFL game is on television.

For another, NFL teams now take home huge revenues from television. And where does this money come from? From fans who buy sponsors’ products.

Fans, particularly those in a two-team market where one team or the other is usually playing at home, are now being punished by NFL television policies.

They deserve better.

The 20th season of “Monday Night Football” got off to a good start, the New York Giants beating the Washington Redskins in a thriller, with ABC capturing a spectacular, low-angle shot of the winning 52-yard field goal by Raul Allegre.

After the game was a network special on the history of “Monday Night Football,” which, although somewhat self-serving, was interesting.

Then came a local show, “Monday Night Live,” with newcomer Todd Donoho serving as host.

The highlight of the show, which was pretty much of a bust, was a visit to Ram linebacker Kevin Greene’s house in Irvine.

Greene had told Donoho he was having a few friends over to watch “Monday Night Football.” What Donoho wasn’t prepared for was a full-fledged party, complete with scantily clad women and drinking.

The show featured calls from viewers, and someone named Dave from Riverside was allowed to ask Greene a question.

The question: “How can I get a couple of Rams tickets?”

Amazingly, Greene gave out the address for the Rams’ office in Anaheim, complete with zip code, and said, “Write to me and I’ll send you a couple of tickets.”

Nice gesture, but surely Greene will hear from more than one Dave from Riverside asking for those tickets.

Arnie Rosenthal, general manager of FNN Sports, claims he has been ripped off by Channel 7 and Donoho, who used to work for him.

Rosenthal said “Monday Night Live” is a duplicate of “Time Out for Trivia,” a show Donoho used to do for FNN. Both shows feature trivia questions, calls from viewers and prizes.

Said Donoho: “Just because Johnny Carson does an interview show from a desk, does that mean Pat Sajak can’t do the same type of show? Plus, FNN is still doing ‘Time Out for Trivia,’ just with another host.”

Rosenthal said he is considering legal action, but one has to wonder what the fuss is all about. “Monday Night Live,” a campy show more suited for cable than a network affiliate, doesn’t figure to last long.

The first installment of “Monday Night Live” averaged only a 3.2 Nielsen rating, starting at a 5.0 and dropping to a 2.4 by the time it went off the air.

Monday night’s football game, meanwhile, averaged a 15.4 rating, and the special that followed got a 10.1.