Pick which home game will be the first blacked out game since 1991.

[Guru]

or can will they manage to avoid it?

[Chiefster]

Uuuuuuuuuuummmm; all of them????

[Guru]

Uuuuuuuuuuummmm; all of them????

Now that I can say with all honesty will NOT happen.

[Chiefster]

Now that I can say with all honesty will NOT happen.


Well one would hope not, but considering the way they played last night....j/k, but not much. :(

[sling58]

I know all of you will hate me down here in OKC but none of the Chiefs games get blacked out here. I guess it is because I live farther away from KC.

[Chiefster]

I know all of you will hate me down here in OKC but none of the Chiefs games get blacked out here. I guess it is because I live farther away from KC.

Probably; I hate you! :D
j/k

[Guru]

I know all of you will hate me down here in OKC but none of the Chiefs games get blacked out here. I guess it is because I live farther away from KC.

That is why I said "blacked out in Kansas City" in the thread.

I know not everyone is from the KC region as far as television but I still think it can be an interesting poll if we let it be.

It has a VERY good chance of happening for the first time since 91 unless herm has a magic pill for this team starting in September.

[sling58]

That is why I said "blacked out in Kansas City" in the thread.

I know not everyone is from the KC region as far as television but I still think it can be an interesting poll if we let it be.

It has a VERY good chance of happening for the first time since 91 unless herm has a magic pill for this team starting in September.

My bad. I don't think any games will be blacked out in KC. All the games will be sold out. Chiefs fans are fanatics and will show up no matter what.

[rbedgood]

Are you sure you have the right odds on "none of them" 1/5 seems like stiff odds on a bet that has 9 possible results... did you mean 5/1?

[Guru]

Are you sure you have the right odds on "none of them" 1/5 seems like stiff odds on a bet that has 9 possible results... did you mean 5/1?

No. I want people to take a riske and actually bet on a black out. If you want the easy bet then 20% winnings is the best it will give ya.

[rbedgood]

That's cool....I just figure the fan base as I've talked to a few friends who are KC fans and reading this board and others is already expecting a tough season, and still plan on attending games...that being said I don't see a blackout this year, but placing $$ out there on a bet where the money will have to float 16 weeks or so, the odds seem really tight. I understand your rationale, but will have to pass on this wager item...papa taught me to pick your horse...if you don't like the odds on your horse don't play someone else's horse...wait for the next race.

[Guru]

My bad. I don't think any games will be blacked out in KC. All the games will be sold out. Chiefs fans are fanatics and will show up no matter what.
Actually, the last two seasons they were in danger of being blacked out but local companies bailed them out to lift the blackout.

This year seems prime.

[rbedgood]

I think the black-out rules are stupid (but don't get me started on that)...the thing is I still don't see a blackout actually occuring in KC. With Huard as the starter and LJ back in the fold, I see 6 wins and another 6-7 close games. I figure then 3-4 blowout losses. That being said, I don't see the fan base giving up on the team until later in December, and likely all tickets will be sold before then.

[Guru]

bumpity

[hermhater]

I am debating whether to even post clips of the game this week.

Maybe a blackout on the site...

[McLovin]

I heard somewhere (and may be way wrong) (think it might have been here) but that since Jackson county put up the money for the stadium improvements that there wouldn't be blackouts. Kind of a reward for the money. Dont know though. Heck with them losing they are blacked out here (illinois) every week.

[tammietailgator]

feeling very retro with this idea, but I think if it happens, it will be the titans game. When was the last blackout? early 90's?

[hermhater]

I can't remember a Black out.

[Guru]

feeling very retro with this idea, but I think if it happens, it will be the titans game. When was the last blackout? early 90's?

Ironically enough, I think the last blackout was against the Oilers when Moon torched us for record breaking numbers. Not positive though.

[McLovin]

What would happen if KC ever had a TV blackout?

By RANDY COVITZ | The Kansas City Star



The date was Sept. 1, 1991, and if you were a pro football fan living in the Kansas City area, you didn’t have to leave your living room to watch the Chiefs play Atlanta at Arrowhead Stadium.The game sold out 72 hours in advance, and the NFL lifted the local television blackout, a shroud that had cloaked Chiefs home games for the better part of 20 years.
Since that day, the Chiefs have sold out 139 consecutive games, including today’s noon kickoff against AFC West rival Oakland.
But that streak — something the Chiefs take as much pride in as their 104-37 home record since 1990, second-best in the NFL — could be coming to an end.
It could happen next week when the Chiefs play San Diego, especially if Kansas City doesn’t snap its three-game losing streak today against Oakland. An even better chance of a non-sellout would be Dec. 16 against Tennessee if the Chiefs are out of playoff contention.
“We have found over the years that the games in December are always difficult to sell,” said Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson, who operates the third-largest stadium (79,451 capacity) in the NFL’s fifth-smallest market. “For the Green Bay game, we sold standing-room only. But it’s the time of the year, it’s the weather, and it’s usually the opponent.
“Surprisingly to me, San Diego right now, for whatever reason, is not that popular a game. I understand Tennessee …Tennessee is out of our division … I would think people will want to come and see (quarterback) Vince Young.”
The Chiefs led the NFL in attendance for six straight seasons during 1994-99 and could boast an infamously long waiting list for season tickets.
Since last summer, the Chiefs have aggressively marketed season tickets and partial-season-ticket plans, including four-game and even two-game packages. A 4-6 record this year — including just 2-3 at home — plus a team in transition with the league’s second-lowest scoring average have conspired to threaten the sellout streak and make a blackout a real possibility.
“That’s a point well-taken,” Peterson said. “There is no question that offense sells tickets. One of the positives of the Dick Vermeil era is we had … a pretty high-powered offense that was pretty entertaining. The negative was we had no defense to match the offense and slow down the opponent.
“Now, the reverse has happened. In this period of transition, people are getting a chance now to see Brodie Croyle play. They wanted to see Brodie … Dwayne Bowe … still some talented veterans in Tony Gonzalez playing at a Pro Bowl level, and a lot of fine young defensive players who are re-establishing a defense. One of the things we want to build on in the transition of the team is bringing back the defensive reputation and character we had before.”
On some occasions corporate sponsors, including KCTV Channel 5, buy unsold tickets (not counting about 1,740 complimentary tickets and 500 allotted to the visitors) to ensure the game is not blacked out. That’s happened this year for games against Jacksonville, Cincinnati and for Oakland today.
For one game last season, a sponsor worked a deal with schoolteachers by providing tickets at a discount. The sponsor picked up the remainder of the cost.
“We will probably initiate that program again this year,” said Bill Newman, the Chiefs’ senior vice president/administration. “We’ll put together programs to move tickets for games that need a boost.”



Next post part 2.

[McLovin]

KCTV as a CBS affiliate carries most Chiefs games, and it’s certainly in the station’s interest to make sure the games are televised, no matter how poorly things may be going on the field. In addition to the 78,000-plus fans attending every home game, nearly 60 percent of all televisions in use at the time are tuned to the Chiefs.
A Chiefs telecast not only dominates the ratings, it also provides thousands of dollars in revenues from local advertising spots and serves as a promotional vehicle for the station’s other programming.
“It’s a football town, man,” said Kirk Black, KCTV’s general manager. “They’re still the Chiefs. The ratings are huge. We’re selling advertising like crazy. It’s a great product for us, and that’s really what matters.”
•••
When Peterson arrived in Kansas City for the start of the 1989 season, the Chiefs’ season-ticket base had plummeted from the 72,000 that christened Arrowhead Stadium in 1972 to fewer than 25,000.
In just a few years, the Chiefs took over the town and became so popular that Arrowhead was expanded by 1,900 seats and there was a long waiting list for season tickets — a list the club says still exists. So if there’s a waiting list for tickets, why are seats available?
“A majority of the people on the waiting list are waiting for 50-yard-line seats, 40-yard-line seats, lower-level and club seats and don’t want anything to do with the 35,000 seats up above,” Peterson said.
Also, the Chiefs, by design, cut off season-ticket sales at 70,000 and make 9,541 tickets available on a per-game basis, or about 95,000 for the season.
“My philosophy since I’ve been here is let’s not sell every ticket as a season ticket because we need to keep getting people in here for a one-time experience that they will hopefully be excited about and want to bring their family back again,” Peterson said. “You’re always replenishing some of the older season-ticket holders.”
Chiefs season-ticket holders get first crack at tickets for college games at Arrowhead, including next year’s Border War rematch and the 2008 Big 12 championship game. For MU-KU, Chiefs season-ticket holders accounted for about 25,000 tickets, “which (became) four times their face value,” Peterson said.
“The same thing held true of the Green Bay game. That, in my 19 seasons, was the most opponent fans I’ve ever seen at Arrowhead. I would estimate 25,000. How did they get those tickets?
“I’m not naïve to think that Chiefs season-ticket holders don’t sell one or two games a year to probably pay for their season tickets and get a little Christmas bonus.”
Certainly, season-ticket holders sell some of their tickets for profit to brokers, particularly at the start of the season when anticipation is high, said Hal Wagner, owner of Ace Sports & Nationwide Tickets at Oak Park Mall.
But Wagner has stopped buying Chiefs tickets for the rest of the season and is selling most of what he has for face value.
“When you sell out a stadium 90 percent-plus to season-ticket holders, that doesn’t give you the attitude of the fans,” Wagner said. “It just means the stadiums are almost sold out before the season begins. Then you get a pulse for the market by speaking to people like me, who make a market in tickets.
“We could see a month ago that there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm. There has been a very lethargic response to the team, even when they were one game in first place. It was like they were in last place. People weren’t talking about Chiefs.”




A year ago, the NFL set records by lifting the blackout for every game for 11 straight weeks and had just seven of 256 games blacked out. This season already, eight games have been blacked out — Jacksonville, despite its 7-3 start, will be blacked out today for the third time for its game against Buffalo; St. Louis and Oakland have been blacked out twice and Atlanta once.
Minnesota’s sellout streak of 101 games has come close to ending three times this season, but as with the Chiefs, local television stations and corporate sponsors snapped up the remaining tickets: to the opener against Atlanta, for the Nov. 4 San Diego game and about 4,000 tickets for last week’s game against Oakland. Still, the Vikings, like the Chiefs, 4-6, could face a blackout for one of their remaining three games, especially against Washington on Dec. 23.
The Rams had sold out every game since moving from Los Angeles to St. Louis in 1995 until Washington visited last Christmas Eve. This year, two of four games have been blacked out, Oct. 7 against Arizona and Oct. 28 vs. Cleveland.
“We’re not going to allow it to happen,” the Chiefs’ Newman said. “That’s great marketing for the Chiefs to have the game on TV. We want to have the games on television as well.”
It won’t help matters in the immediate future that the renovations at the Truman Sports Complex are causing some inconveniences for fans, and that’s why Peterson is pushing to shift one home game abroad in 2008 as part of the NFL’s program that will require each team to host at least one game overseas during the next 15 years.
Eventually, the renovations will reduce Arrowhead Stadium’s capacity by 2,400 seats to about 77,100, bringing down the threshold for lifting the blackouts.
“This is something we have to work at every year,” Peterson said. “We are in the sports-entertainment business. There are other choices for sports fans or any type of entertainment on Sundays. You can go to the opera, you can go to the play, the movies, to NASCAR if it’s here, you can go to the Royals when we play at the same time of year, and for most people, there are only so many spendable entertainment dollars.
“We’ve had a terrific run for 19 years, 17 of them sellouts, and we want to find ways to continue it.”
He won’t have to worry about blackouts, as far as Channel 5’s Black is concerned.
“If you look at our track record and the Chiefs’ track record, and the fans and the way they step up,” Black said, “the games are always on, and I anticipate that will be the case going forward.”

[SANDY34]

Uuuuuuuuuuummmm; all of them????
great article. I will bookmark this