The National Football League is planning to stream blacked out in-market games on a delay on NFL.com, the league says. In-market games will be available for streaming starting at midnight the day of the game, and will be accessible for 72 hours, except when Monday Night Football airs on ESPN.
Additionally, if a game that is blacked out locally does not sell out its tickets, then the league will make it available for free viewing on the Website in the home markets.
"We understand that the economy is limiting some families and corporations from buying as many game tickets as they had previously," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, announcing the decision. "These free re-broadcasts on NFL.com will allow our fans that can't get to a blacked-out game an opportunity to see the entire game."
Of course, NFL games do typically sell out or come close to selling out because of the limited schedule, but the current economic crisis will likely put a damper on ticket sales.
Major League Baseball, which pioneered online streaming of games, is still piloting the concept of making in-market games available on its site. The New York Yankees are the first team to sign on, with select cable customers given the option to add in-market streaming to their MLB.tv package.
