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... They better not black-out the Cowboys game. There will be in' to pay if they do that .
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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... They better not black-out the Cowboys game. There will be in' to pay if they do that .
Well, KABB and KRRT are owned by the same company...is there anyway one game can be shown on KRRT? I know there are some legalities but is it possible?
This is really getting hilarious. A sold-out local game being pre-empted for the Cowboys?
Jerry Jones has about 100 times as much stroke as Tom Benson.
What's even funnier is knowing that even if SA had its own team, like 500,000 people would converge on the local TV station to riot if it pre-empted the Cowboys.
I am experiencing schadenfreude against the would-be looters.
I would want to see just 1 game on tv whether it be this Sunday or against the Falcons as I will probably be there at the game vs the Lions.
Maybe San Antonio should go after an AFC team? Any AFC teams thinking of relocating? That would solve the TV situation.
I can't go to the 10/2 or the 10/16 because of work but the 12/24 game sounds enticing.
Just announced.. NFL lifts blackout. .Game on KENS..
In this case, there is no conflict with the Cowboys because the Saints-Bills game is an AFC road game broadcast by CBS.
The next two games there will be a conflict on FOX. Jerry Jones will win that conflict.
And I will enjoy the delicious irony of a sold-out Saints-Falcons game in downtown San Antonio, a marquee matchup with the opportunity to generate some serious NFL buzz around town, BLACKED OUT.
SA doesn't know who they're dealing with in JJ. Between him and his buddy Bob McNair, they can squash Hardberger and Benson like bugs.
And San Antonio will be the national laughingstock it deserves to be for trying to screw over New Orleans, only to be itself the one taken for a ride.
Man, the Cowboys. I can't believe the way San Antonio bends over for Jerry Jones.
Stout, what do you have against the city?
According to WOAI radio all 3 games will be Televised in San Antonio.
The Cowboys draw high ratings in this town. It's not Jerry Jones it's the television station. They need high ratings, why give up on a high ratings to show something that won't give you even half of what the Cowboys bring. It's business.
If the Saints on CBS (KENS) draw higher than the Cowboys then it deserves some looking into, other than that show the game that will bring in the ratings.
Openingly coveting the Saints while New Orleans is on life support is the conduct of lowlifes and weasels.
I know that "officially" the city is just "graciously hosting" the Saints with no ulterior motives and only "auditioning" for a future undetermined franchise sometime down the road, but behind closed doors they're negotiating with Benson for renovations to the Alamodome and incentive packages for relocation. Shame on Hardberger. Shame on Benson. Isn't it interesting that with him, and with Red McCombs, the stereotype about used car salesmen is pretty accurate?
What's the difference between Tom Benson and a catfish? One is a s -sucking bottom feeder, while the other is a fish.
What Benson and Hardberger don't seem to understand is that behind other closed doors, Tagliabue, Jerry Jones, and Bob McNair are leading the charge among the other owners, that come what may, Benson will either keep the team in New Orleans, sell it to a Los Angeles-based consortium, or go bankrupt trying to move the team to SA.
All that's happening now is that opinions against San Antonio are hardening in the league office. Maybe if this had been handled right, then somebody down the road could have garnered enough support to take on Jones and McNair. But not now. They think SA is trying to get over on them, and they won't forget it anytime soon.
The local populace by and large can't be implicated, given the tepid response in buying tickets, but every so often you run into an infrastructure geek who is whacking off to the idea of the San Antonio Saints for 2006 (as opposed to his usual routine of rubbing one out while looking at retail development sketches).
Basically anybody who is hoping the Saints move to SA sooner rather than later, and just says " New Orleans," is a lowlife piece of . I know that whenever SA gets criticized, everyone there starts acting like the wiry little 5'4" dude who wants to fight, because of that long-standing inferiority complex, but sometime a spade is a spade. The city is acting 100% bush league.
That's not accurate. What the NFL has said is that the local FOX affiliate will be allowed to broadcast those games if they so choose, rather than the Cowboys game.
Ok then your beef is with the Mayor and Tom Benson, not the city itself.
You can't blame fans for wanting NFL football here (and I don't think you are doing that) personally I don't believe you can steal something that is not someone's to steal. Tom Benson was looking to move the Saints way before Katrina hit and, IMO, he is using SA as an threat to get his way of either getting a new stadium in NO or moving to LA. I don't think the city is stepping over bodies in the streets to covet a team I just think that too much is being made of this as a chance to get an NFL team here. Tagliabue wants a team in LA period. He doesn't care about SA and if push came to shove, he wouldn't care about NO. If the Saints do move, IMO it will be to LA and that rule about Super Bowls only being in NFL cities will be magically removed so NO can eventually host them again. I disagree with someone wanting NFL football here being lowlife pieces of and as a life long San Antonian I have never felt an inferiority complex and the natives I know don't feel it either. Although I can't speak for the Mayor...he might. The sad truth is that Tom Benson, not the city of New Orleans, owns the Saints and can move them where he feels. If you have proof of secret negoitiations (and I am not saying you don't) to revamp the Alamodome for the sole purpose of getting the Saints here, or relocation packages I would like to see it. I also can't blame the city leadership for responding to an offer of an NFL team by an owner. I just think that Benson is using SA as a pawn to get what he really wants. A new stadium just for his team. I don't think it will happen here but maybe in LA.
Bottom line, and I think we both agree on this, its all about money.
WELL PUT. I love the city of San Antonio, but I couldn't agree with the above more. San Antonio has no prayer of getting an NFL team under any cir stances, and they are allowing themselves to be used, and destroying their reputation in the process. San Antonio is a small market. Period. It currently ranks around number 37 as a TV market around the same size as West Palm Beach, Florida and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Don't let Red sell you a bill of goods, either. He still has a financial stake in the Alamodome, and is just politicking to get himself some big dollars.
I don't agree with the name calling but I think this is the one thing we agree on.
I do also disagree with the reputation of the city being damaged. In your opinion perhaps (and I am not discounting that) but I think that the view of San Antonio as a great sports event and convention city will still remain intact. Just my .02 though. None of us can accurately tell what if any, effect this will have on the NCAA, corporations looking for convention space, etc.San Antonio has no prayer of getting an NFL team under any cir stances, and they are allowing themselves to be used
so you are saying "you better not see Red"?Don't let Red sell you a bill of goods, either.
San Antonio, was, is, and shall remain, a great city full of great people. Trying to get an NFL team by going about it the wrong way is not going to hurt the city, but it looks bad, and that bugs me. I wouldn't be so critical if I didn't feel like it's my town, too.
They should just give us an expansion team.. or promise NO a new team when they are up and running in 2 years.
extra stout, you're so full of .. the saints were already trying to get out of new orleans because the city was reneging on their deal. this "we're stealing their team" stuff is bull .
Sweet. I shall be watching the Saints-Bills game then
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