There is no question that the NFL has figured out how to run a sports business.  They are by far the most successful sports entity in the United States, if not the world.  They make money hand over fist and they don't need to hear how to run their business, but they are really missing the boat on something.  The St. Louis Rams game against the Atlanta Falcons will be blacked out on Friday night and will be run on tape delay, at 10:30 pm on KTVI, because the game is not sold out.  It makes no sense for the NFL to continue this archaic policy of blacking out games in local markets because they are not sellouts, especially in the pre-season.

The reason that the NFL claims to do this is because they want to guarantee sellouts for the local team in their market.  The reality is that all it does is hurt the local team and does not help them in any way shape or form. 

Take the Rams as an example.  The Rams have won five games in the last two seasons.  They are desperately trying to get back on the radar in this town and have taken steps to win the fans back.  So is it better for the Rams to have their games on local TV for what is essentially a three hour commercial for the team, or is it better for the game to not be seen by their fans and prospective ticket buyers and be banished to 10:30 pm on a Friday night?  It makes no sense and I guarantee the Rams can't be happy that their game is not going to be able to be televised locally.

There used to be a belief that not televising games locally if it was not a sellout (in all sports) would raise ticket sales.  The truth is not having games on locally hurts the teams more than it helps them.  Take for example the St. Louis Cardinals or Blues.  Every one of their games are on TV and they are having or had, one of their most successful seasons at the gate.  It doesn't hurt either of those teams that their game is on TV.  It actually increases interest in the teams. 

The greatest example of a franchise that almost ruined itself because of this ridiculous thinking was the Chicago Blackhawks.  Up until recently Blackhawks games were almost never televised locally in Chicago.  It was OK when the team was good but when that franchise fell on hard times and they weren't on TV a once proud franchise was almost banished to an afterthought in that market.

The NFL knows that the preseason is a money making sham.  Season ticket holders are charged full price for games that don't count, don't have the stars playing in them, and don't have nearly the excitement, but yet season ticket holders have to buy them because it is part of their package.  The NFL is finally going to address this problem, supposedly, by reducing the preseason games and increasing the number of regular season games.

I understand the Rams can't do anything about the situation tomorrow night but it does not make any sense to not broadcast a preseason exhibition game.  I am sure the people at KTVI can't be happy about it because they will make less money.  The Rams can't be happy about it because they can't get the exposure and Rams fans aren't happy about it because they can't see their team.  The only upside is that the Cardinals are on the West Coast on Friday so it will give fans who want to stay up the opportunity to flip between the Cardinals and Rams games.

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