Blacked Out
September 8th, 2011
Just in case you were one of the few idealists thinking the less than high profile Lions were going to sell out The CITS for opening day Sunday, Joe is the bearer of bad news.
Per Nicole Darin’s Twitter feed, she of one of Joe’s proud media partners, WTSP-TV Channel 10, the Bucs were unable to meet the NFL deadline of 1 p.m. today in order to sell out The CITS, thus, the game will not be broadcast in the Tampa Bay and Orlando TV markets, nor will the game be available in the same TV markets on NFL Sunday Ticket.
However, the game will be available for free in the Tampa Bay and Orlando regions on NFL.com at midnight Sunday night via Game Rewind for a 72-hour window.
Also, NFL Sunday Ticket will have the game available at midnight Sunday via it’s “Short Cuts” format with every play included but with all dead time and commercials edited out. In this format, the games are squeezed into a 30-minute format and Joe has found it to be quite cool indeed.
September 8th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I will be in a bar n Port Charlotte, not too far for me since I live in Sarasota.
September 8th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Wow after I purchased my tickets I went back to see how many were left available – I counted like 5,000 if I did it correctly. Somethings not kosher.
September 8th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Larry:
Joe can tell you with a very high degree of certainty that if you are getting that figure from Ticketmaster.com, it’s a grossly unreliable source.
September 8th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
That sucks arse! I guess the Bucs were feeling pretty good, since their site still lists FOX for the TV. Man, I wish the owners would have spared us the 09 season and picked up the tab for last season or this season. One would think they would want to show how improved the team has become. Our god awful fan base of fareweathered fans of northern teams does not help. They did not stick to their loyalties during all the good time seasons. How some people are not excited about this team is beyond me. Oh well. I guess I am only going to a couple of games, and the Lion’s game was not my first choice either. I wish the Glazers would take their nice move of adding Selmon’s number to their helmets a step closer and spen the 35 cents on the dollar to make this bad boy happen. How embarassing.
September 8th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Now with Peyton out 2-3 months ..it wouldn’t suprise me if the Monday Night game is Blacked Out
September 8th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
i think short cuts skips punts and kickoffs joe
September 8th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Sweet Scorpions tune!! Didnt know Joe was a metal head!
Lets hope the Bucs get off to a good start and the blackout problem will go away..
September 9th, 2011 at 12:20 am
So I bought a ticket to a game I can’t attend and still don’t get to watch it?
Way to go Tampa Bay. A winning record, 9-11 and the Selman event can’t get you people to do more than talk about being fans?
I stepped out even though finances are tight. Heck, my gass even got turned off today. But I still stepped up as a fan.
Half you guys talk a great game, but when it comes to proving it, you are nowhere to be found. Posers.
Joe, on that rewind thing, it requires a paid membership. How do you watch the game for free?
September 9th, 2011 at 12:23 am
Pete:
Nope. Blacked out games are free in the team’s primary and secondary market for 72 hours beginning at midnight. This is the third season for such a feature.
Any other games you want to watch via Game Rewind will require a subscription.
September 9th, 2011 at 12:28 am
Does any1 know how far from orlando do I need to go to watch teh game seeing I live in orlando?
September 9th, 2011 at 12:47 am
Nate:
Joe believes it is 75 miles.
September 9th, 2011 at 1:44 am
Some on the Detroit Blogs are making fun of Tampa for having our opener blacked out.
I remember when there was a line for Tampa Season Tickets. Where are all the Yuppie Bandwagon Fans now ? This is getting embarassing for Tampa, on a national level.
God help us if we get beat badly by Detroit, and start losing games this year. Tampa could not even pack the stadium last year when we were winning.
September 9th, 2011 at 4:27 am
so let me get this right i have to be 75 miles away from orlando too?
September 9th, 2011 at 4:44 am
To anyone who isn’t going, I don’t want you there anyways. I gotta admit though, I miss the days when I couldn’t hear what the person next to me was saying while our defense was on the field.
September 9th, 2011 at 7:03 am
Watching Mike & Mike right now, and they are saying that since 1992 (?) only 24% of the teams that lost their opening game actually made it to the playoffs.
I’m sure people will use that as an excuse if the Bucs do loze this week. Personally, I’m rooting for them.
@Espo
Some of use cannot go but bought tickets anyway just to help get a sellout. I think another person who frequents JBF lives 17 hours away and still bought 4 tickets to help the cause (or at least he claimed he was going to). I could barely afford one ticket, but I was able to swing it this week.
September 9th, 2011 at 10:03 am
I went on Direct TV’s website & it said it would be available on Sunday Ticket in Orlando. Does anyone know if this is true? It doesn’t make sense to blackout gms for Sunday Ticket provider that lives over 80 miles from Stadium.
September 9th, 2011 at 10:22 am
Crapsman:
That is completely inaccurate. NFL blackout rules require a game not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff to be blacked out from live, local television coverage in both a team’s primary and secondary TV market. Each NFL team has a secondary television market. Long ago Hugh Culverhouse deemed the Orlando TV market as the Bucs secondary market.
If the Fox affiliate on your DirecTV is an Orlando Fox station, you will not get the game live, but you can get the game at midnight via NFL Sunday Ticket’s “Short Cut.”
Joe doesn’t know the specifics of the Orlando TV market or TV stations on the east coast. Guessing you would have to drive to Gainesville or Daytona to watch the Bucs at a sports bar. Joe knows Ocala is also blackout free as is Fort Myers, of course.
September 9th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Pete, buying a ticket and not going is even worse. On the 3 occasions over the last 14 years that I couldn’t make it to the game, I made sure someone I knew and loved was in that seat.
September 9th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Thanks.I called Direct TV & they said it would be blacked out,contrary to the website
September 25th, 2011 at 2:23 am
TBB blackouts have one and only one man to be blamed for; Jon “efing” Gruden. He must be coaching a high school team somewhere in the north pole.
September 25th, 2011 at 8:09 pm
The economy is still hurting and a lot of local people are still in threat of foreclosure. To a lot of people the idea to buy season tickets are well out of the budget. Thousands of Sports bars are missing out on local fans because of the blackout. I got an idea, why don’t the local sport bars get together and buy out the remaining tickets and raffle them off while their having Buccaneer parties in their establishment. It’s a win-win. Go Bucs !!!