In down economy, teams could face local blackouts

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Avoiding local television blackouts will be a challenge as the NFL approaches its first full season in the economic downturn, commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday.

During a visit to the Washington Redskins, Goodell was asked specifically about the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose season-ticket base dropped from 42,000 to about 25,000 this season. The decline is such that the club might not even bother asking for extensions in hopes of avoiding blackouts this year.

Goodell said Jacksonville, one of the smallest markets in the league, is “one of the markets where we’re seeing some challenges from ticket sales coming into the 2009 season.

“And we’ll have other markets that’ll have those challenges. It’s all part of the challenges that we’re seeing in the economy, and what our clubs are going through,” Goodell said.

The San Diego Chargers had an exhibition game blacked out for the first time since 2006 and will have Friday’s game blacked out as well. They say regular-season blackouts could be on the way as well. Other teams that could have trouble selling out their home games include the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, who both had blackouts last season.

The Cleveland Browns nearly had their first blackout since 1995 for a preseason game last month, but Goodell said some of the August ticket sales could be attributed to the nature of exhibition football.

“I think the fans have seen that the quality of the games aren’t up to NFL standards, so I think that’s a factor,” said Goodell.

Goodell had a meeting planned in Washington with NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith. Goodell said it was more of a get-together than a formal negotiating session.

“Anytime you’re negotiating you take a step forward and maybe a step back,” Goodell said. “We’re communicating, we’re trying to get information to the union leadership, make sure they understand the challenges we’re facing as a system and as a business and make sure they understand that so we can design a system that addresses the issues for the players and the coaches and the game.”