Holsman Files Bill to avoid TV blackout of Missouri sporting events

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Professional sports franchises would be ineligible to receive public funding if any of their home games are blacked out from local television broadcast under legislation filed this week by state Rep. Jason Holsman, D-Kansas City. Holsman’s bill is an effort to encourage professional sports leagues to reverse broadcast blackout policies which the Representative calls ‘antiquated.’

House Bill 1986 targets a National Football League policy that prohibits games from being broadcast within a 75-mile radius of the host city if the game hasn’t sold out 72 hours prior to the scheduled kickoff. As a result of the policy, one Kansas City Chiefs game and three St. Louis Rams games were blacked out on local television during the 2009 NFL season. Both teams play in stadiums that are subsidized by state and local taxpayers.

“Many Missouri football fans simply can’t afford to attend NFL games yet are forced to subsidize the league through their state and local taxes,” Holsman said. “It isn’t asking much of a league that benefits greatly from taxpayer subsidies to guarantee that scheduled television broadcasts of home games won’t be blacked out due to failure of the team to achieve a sellout. For the millions of dollars Kansas City, St. Louis and Missouri taxpayers have poured into the Chiefs and Rams, they deserve something in return.”

Prior to the Dec.20 blackout of the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium, the team boasted an impressive streak of home sellouts that spanned 19 years and 156 games. The last previous Chiefs home game that failed to sellout and resulted in a television blackout was on Dec. 16, 1990.

The St. Louis Rams’ home games at the Edward Jones Dome have been blacked out a handful a of times in recent years, including thrice during the 2009 season when the team set a franchise mark for futility with an atrocious 1-15 record.

“Many Kansas City bars and restaurants plan events surrounding Chiefs football games,” said Holsman, “How can we ask those small business owners to pay the 3/8 cent sales tax for the renovations of Arrowhead Stadium, when the NFL policy is blocking their revenue?”