A First: All 15 Games Sold Out
All 15 games in the NFL this weekend sold out in advance of the local TV blackout deadline, the first time that has happened during the regular season.
The Cincinnati Bengals, granted a one-day extension of the 72-hour blackout deadline, announced Friday that their game with the Tennessee Oilers was a sellout, and the local TV blackout was lifted.
WKRC-TV, which holds the rights to broadcast Bengal games in Cincinnati, guaranteed the purchase of all tickets not sold by game time, the Bengals said.
That also allowed stations in Dayton and Lexington, Ky., to televise the game.
About 1,800 tickets remained when the NFL granted a 24-hour extension on Thursday.
The league’s standard blackout policy requires that a game be sold out 72 hours before kickoff to be televised in the local market. However, the league may grant an extension when a team is close to a sellout.
The NFL projected that paid attendance for the openers will top 1 million. The all-time highest paid-attendance weekend was last November when 999,778 tickets were sold for 15 games.
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