Rochester, N.Y. - The Buffalo Bills defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday but the only way to witness the triumph was if you were actually at the game. The NFL blacked out the game because not enough tickets were sold. This is the league's policy.
That’s a disappointment to Bills fan Ricardo Rose.
“There should at least be a channel for the local fans or something just so we can watch at home,” Rose said.
Critics say the blackout hurts fans and is unfair in today's economy to expect the public to fill stadium seats.
Also, Bills fans point out that taxpayer dollars are being sought for renovations to Ralph Wilson Stadium.
“The NFL is all about money and unfortunately money is more important than the welfare of the fans,” sports fan Laurence Pinisch said.
“We had a lot of people here earlier and some of them were disappointed and some thought it was kind of funny because the Bills are losing so it didn't hurt as bad,” Richmond’s bar owner Jeff Boscarino said.
Boscarino said that not providing a game for fans means a 30% loss of business for the day.
“A lot of people won't come out when they know the game is blacked out or they'll listen to it on the radio,” said Boscarino.
Boscarino is also calling foul because he pays cable providers like DIRECTV for more access, but the games are blacked out there too.
“Hopefully they can revisit this in the off-season and fix this somehow,” Boscarino said.
Getting the league to drop its blackout policy is something lawmakers are pushing the NFL to do.
Fans can only hope the league will play ball.
The Bills are likely to have two more blackouts this season.
