blaze89
09-29-2005, 11:39 AM
No decision on TV blackout of Saints
09/29/2005
Tom Orsborn
Express-News Staff Writer
The issue of whether the NFL will apply its television blackout policies to the New Orleans Saints' Alamodome debut Sunday grew murkier Wednesday when a league spokesman declined to clarify the matter.
Meanwhile, local businessman and former Minnesota Vikings owner B.J. "Red" McCombs criticized NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue for including San Antonio with "small market" cities of limited interest to the league.
McCombs said he was "disappointed" to hear Tagliabue's comments "because we are not a small market."
"One of our difficulties, not only with the NFL but also with Fortune 500 companies, is that they don't know we are a regional center for a radius covering 200 miles," McCombs said.
"We are a big market, and that has been hard for people to grasp, so we obviously have some work to do."
Hoping to make an impression, city leaders strenuously have campaigned to sell out three Saints games rebooked for the Alamodome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The three-game set begins Sunday when the Saints play the Buffalo Bills in San Antonio's first regular-season NFL game.
Should the game fail to sell out by noon today, NFL blackout rules would prohibit it from being shown on local TV — that is, if blackout rules are applied to San Antonio as they would be to a traditional NFL city.
NFL spokesman Seth Palansky declined to say whether that would be the case, pointing out instead that the blackout issue isn't the only television concern the league has when it comes to the Saints and San Antonio.
"We are weighing whether San Antonio would be a Saints market for these three games, or whether it will be like it's always been, a (Dallas) Cowboys secondary market," Palansky said.
The Saints seemed unclear if and how the blackout rules would be applied. To avoid the TV ban, the club could request a deadline extension.
But Rita Benson LeBlanc, granddaughter of Saints owner Tom Benson and a member of the franchise's board of directors, said Wednesday during a promotional trip to Austin that Sunday's game likely would be sold out.
"A few companies we've been talking to, and some we're meeting with today, have offered to guarantee tickets to ensure we won't have a blackout," LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc declined to say which companies may intervene but said the businesses, in essence, would buy the tickets and allow the Saints to keep them on sale to the general public.
Late Wednesday, 12,140 tickets remained for the game. Barring last-minute bulk purchases, probably by corporations, a sellout before noon today is unlikely.
The Saints-Cowboys issue promises to be contentious, especially among local fans. In two weeks, TV options for games of Oct. 16 are likely to collide. The Saints will play the Atlanta Falcons in the Alamodome at noon that day. At the same time, the Cowboys will play the New York Giants.
The Saints-Falcons game is fewer than 5,000 tickets away from selling out. The local Fox affiliate, KABB, has indicated, however, that because it expects higher ratings, it would carry the Cowboys game.
That effectively would black out the Saints game, whether or not it sells out — unless the NFL designates San Antonio as a Saints market. That would obligate KABB to carry the Saints, blacking out the Cowboys locally.
The same scenario looms for Dec. 24 when the Saints play Detroit and the Cowboys play Carolina, both at noon and both on Fox.
Palansky said Tagliabue may address the issues as soon as today but offered no promise that the commissioner would resolve the blackout issue before today's deadline.
"We are trying to come up with something that works for all three games," Palansky said.
Staff reporter Mark Wangrin contributed to this report.
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Online at... (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/football/nfl/stories/MYSA092905.1C.FBN_saints_tickets.17215130.html)
09/29/2005
Tom Orsborn
Express-News Staff Writer
The issue of whether the NFL will apply its television blackout policies to the New Orleans Saints' Alamodome debut Sunday grew murkier Wednesday when a league spokesman declined to clarify the matter.
Meanwhile, local businessman and former Minnesota Vikings owner B.J. "Red" McCombs criticized NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue for including San Antonio with "small market" cities of limited interest to the league.
McCombs said he was "disappointed" to hear Tagliabue's comments "because we are not a small market."
"One of our difficulties, not only with the NFL but also with Fortune 500 companies, is that they don't know we are a regional center for a radius covering 200 miles," McCombs said.
"We are a big market, and that has been hard for people to grasp, so we obviously have some work to do."
Hoping to make an impression, city leaders strenuously have campaigned to sell out three Saints games rebooked for the Alamodome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The three-game set begins Sunday when the Saints play the Buffalo Bills in San Antonio's first regular-season NFL game.
Should the game fail to sell out by noon today, NFL blackout rules would prohibit it from being shown on local TV — that is, if blackout rules are applied to San Antonio as they would be to a traditional NFL city.
NFL spokesman Seth Palansky declined to say whether that would be the case, pointing out instead that the blackout issue isn't the only television concern the league has when it comes to the Saints and San Antonio.
"We are weighing whether San Antonio would be a Saints market for these three games, or whether it will be like it's always been, a (Dallas) Cowboys secondary market," Palansky said.
The Saints seemed unclear if and how the blackout rules would be applied. To avoid the TV ban, the club could request a deadline extension.
But Rita Benson LeBlanc, granddaughter of Saints owner Tom Benson and a member of the franchise's board of directors, said Wednesday during a promotional trip to Austin that Sunday's game likely would be sold out.
"A few companies we've been talking to, and some we're meeting with today, have offered to guarantee tickets to ensure we won't have a blackout," LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc declined to say which companies may intervene but said the businesses, in essence, would buy the tickets and allow the Saints to keep them on sale to the general public.
Late Wednesday, 12,140 tickets remained for the game. Barring last-minute bulk purchases, probably by corporations, a sellout before noon today is unlikely.
The Saints-Cowboys issue promises to be contentious, especially among local fans. In two weeks, TV options for games of Oct. 16 are likely to collide. The Saints will play the Atlanta Falcons in the Alamodome at noon that day. At the same time, the Cowboys will play the New York Giants.
The Saints-Falcons game is fewer than 5,000 tickets away from selling out. The local Fox affiliate, KABB, has indicated, however, that because it expects higher ratings, it would carry the Cowboys game.
That effectively would black out the Saints game, whether or not it sells out — unless the NFL designates San Antonio as a Saints market. That would obligate KABB to carry the Saints, blacking out the Cowboys locally.
The same scenario looms for Dec. 24 when the Saints play Detroit and the Cowboys play Carolina, both at noon and both on Fox.
Palansky said Tagliabue may address the issues as soon as today but offered no promise that the commissioner would resolve the blackout issue before today's deadline.
"We are trying to come up with something that works for all three games," Palansky said.
Staff reporter Mark Wangrin contributed to this report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online at... (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/football/nfl/stories/MYSA092905.1C.FBN_saints_tickets.17215130.html)