Upset!: How Sports Fans Beat the NFL and Ended the Sports Blackout Rule

by Brian Frederick

For the first time in history, an organized group of sports fans defeated a sports league in the public policy arena. Several decades ago, the National Football League created a policy of blacking out games on television that weren't sold out in the stadium. The NFL successfully lobbied the government to enforce these blackouts and so, for 40 years, the Federal Communications Commission had a rule on its book supporting the NFL's policy. In 2011, Sports Fans Coalition, a nonprofit fan advocacy organization, began to fight back. SFC faced long odds, given the enormous size and lobbying power of the NFL and its partner, the National Association of Broadcasters. Over the course of three years, Sports Fans Coalition met with U.S. Senators and Representatives, FCC Commissioners and other consumers groups to rally support for ending the FCC's rule. Thousands of fans around the country sent in letters to the FCC. The NFL even launched its own national campaign to convince fans that blackouts were good for them. Finally, on September 30, 2014, the FCC voted to end its blackout rule. This is the story of that fight, written by the sports fan who was on the front lines...

33 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2014