Joe is starting to be confused with this NFL TV blackout rule in relation to preseason games.  But after doing a bit of research, Bucs fans shouldn’t sweat (unless they are at the games).

Joe was always under the impression that preseason games were not subject to blackouts. Then Joe read last night about this mess in Jacksonville where Jags home preseason games will not only be blacked out, but not broadcast at all.

Joe then scurried to his NFL resources to look up the NFL blackout policy. Per the NFL’s media guide, it doesn’t specify preseason or regular season games in the policy.

Blackout Policy
To ensure an NFL club’s ability to sell all of its game tickets, and to make televised games more attractive to viewers through the presence of sellout crowds, the following policy is observed by the NFL:

For a home game to be aired locally in the franchised market and in any secondary blackout market(s), the game must be sold out 72 hours in advance of kickoff. If the game is not a sellout by the 72 hour cutoff, both the home franchised market and the secondary markets of the carrying network will air an alternate game.

So Joe called uber TV sports journalist and all-around great guy Dan Lucas of WFLA-TV, which not only is a “Pewter Partner,” but has the rights locally to the Bucs preseason games not carried by a national network. Lucas assured Joe that all three preseason games WFLA has the rights to will be broadcast on WFLA live. Not blacked out. Not tape-delayed. Live.

The fourth Bucs preseason game, at Miami, is a nationally televised game by FOX. Since it’s a road game, it will not be blacked out locally under any circumstance.