NFL Blackouts Could Prove Costly To Station Groups

Fox or CBS owned-and-operated stations would lose an estimated $250,000 if an NFL game in their markets were blacked out this season. But even under dire circumstances, their parent companies would hardly be affected, according to a new report.

Some 19 teams have failed to sell out all eight home games so far, meaning that a station may have to cancel a telecast. Last year, local stations owned by Fox, CBS and other groups took in between $50,000 and $1.2 million per home-team broadcast.

On average, a station brought in an estimated $250,000 per local game, according to Wall Street firm UBS. In the unlikely circumstance that a team fails to sell out all eight home games in 2009-10, a Fox- or CBS-owned station could lose an estimated $2 million on the season.

Fox has seven O&Os in markets that are "at risk" of blackouts, while CBS has three. Before Sunday's kickoffs, UBS estimated the maximum exposure for their parent companies, News Corp. and CBS Corp., at $15 million and $7 million, respectively.

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That's less, however, than 1% of each company's total revenue and operating income for the second half of 2009, the UBS report says.

UBS drew its figures from TNS Media Intelligence.

According to UBS, Fox stations that could lose games include its O&Os in Detroit, Tampa Bay and Minneapolis. CBS has an O&O in the Bay Area that could be at risk with the Oakland Raiders likely struggling to sell out.

Still, while News Corp. and CBS might not be affected on a macro level, other station groups could suffer more deeply. Notably, Newport Television -- which owns the CBS affiliates in Jacksonville and Cincinnati, where the Jaguars and Bengals may not sell out all of their games.

NBC does not own any stations where a blackout appears likely.

An NFL team must sell out its games within 72 hours before kickoff to prevent a blackout in the home market. There were no blackouts on Sunday, helped by the NFL granting teams an extra 24 hours to sell out. That benefited the Fox station in Phoenix and Newport outlet in Cincinnati.

In past instances, stations have bought up the minimal amount of tickets that remain unsold to prevent a blackout.

1 comment about "NFL Blackouts Could Prove Costly To Station Groups".
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  1. Kevin K from Anonymous, September 15, 2009 at 10:10 a.m.

    How many tickets are they short from a sell-out and what would the cost to buy them that would be incurred? A station could buy the remaining tickets and donate to charity if the amount of money lost from advertising revenue is greater than the cost of purchasing the tickets. Seems pretty simple and had been done in the past.

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