pf9 Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) From 1973-2014, the NFL did not permit (usually) the local broadcast of a home game if it was not sold out 72 hours before kickoff. When the blackout was of a national TV game on a broadcast network, stations blacked out of the game had to show alternate programs during the time frame - when the blackout was of a MNF package game on ABC, usually the stations blacked out of the game would air late newscasts in their normal time slot. Stations blacked out of a MNF game played in the Western US would also show the MNF lead-in programming in its normal time for the time zone (8 or 7 PM). If the blacked out game was on a cable network, cable and satellite providers in the affected markets had to block the signal of the cable network carrying the game; in later years, ESPN generally simulcast ESPNEWS in areas an NFL game was blacked out. No NFL Network package game was ever blacked out, nor has been an NBC Sunday Night Football game blacked out. In one instance, a game flexed out of the Sunday night slot was in fact blacked out locally - a 2010 game bewteen the Chargers and Bengals, replaced by a Vikings-Eagles game that got pushed to Tuesday due to blizzards in Philly. CBS affiliates in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Lexington could not show Chargers-Bengals. Similarly, no blackouts have occurred on ESPN since they started airing MNF. In a number of cases, teams had blackouts even in seasons of success. The Bills often faced blackouts during the Jim Kelly era, notably The Comeback during the 1992 playoffs, owing to Buffalo's harsh winter weather. Even though the weather is nicer in Miami, the Dolphins have had blackouts even during the Dan Marino era. 12 of the blackouts the Dolphins had during the Marino era were of national TV games. ABC Monday Night Football Package: September 24, 1973: New Orleans at Dallas (first MNF package blackout since introduction of 72-hour rule) October 29, 1973: Kansas City at Buffalo December 10, 1973: NY Giants at LA Rams September 16, 1974: Oakland at Buffalo November 4, 1974: LA Rams at San Francisco November 25, 1974: Pittsburgh at New Orleans December 2, 1974: Cincinnati at Miami December 9, 1974: Washington at LA Rams September 22, 1975: Oakland at Miami October 20, 1975: NY Giants at Buffalo November 10, 1975: Kansas City at Dallas December 15, 1975: NY Jets at San Diego September 13, 1976: Miami at Buffalo September 20, 1976: Oakland at Kansas City October 11, 1976: San Francisco at LA Rams October 18, 1976: NY Jets at New England November 15, 1976: San Francisco at Atlanta November 22, 1976: Baltimore at Miami November 29, 1976: Minnesota at San Francisco December 11, 1976: LA Rams at Detroit (Saturday) September 26, 1977: New England at Cleveland October 3, 1977: Oakland at Kansas City December 12, 1977: Dallas at San Francisco September 18, 1978: Baltimore at New England October 9, 1978: Cincinnati at Miami November 13, 1978: Oakland at Cincinnati November 27, 1978: Pittsburgh at San Francisco December 11, 1978: Cincinnati at LA Rams December 18, 1978: NY Jets at Miami October 28, 1979: New England at Miami (Sunday) November 5, 1979: Houston at Miami November 19, 1979: Atlanta at LA Rams November 22, 1979: Chicago at Detroit September 29, 1980: Denver at New England November 3, 1980: Chicago at Cleveland November 20, 1980: San Diego at Miami (Thursday) November 24, 1980: LA Rams at New Orleans December 7, 1980: Detroit at Tampa Bay (Sunday) December 8, 1980: New England at Miami (Howard Cosell announces John Lennon's murder) September 10, 1981: Pittsburgh at Miami (Thursday) October 19, 1981: Chicago at Detroit September 16, 1982: Minnesota at Buffalo (Thursday) November 22, 1982: San Diego at LA Raiders December 6, 1982: NY Jets at Detroit December 27, 1982: Buffalo at Miami September 12, 1983: San Diego at Kansas City September 15, 1983: Cincinnati at Cleveland (Thursday) September 19, 1983: Miami at LA Raiders October 24, 1983: NY Giants at Saint Louis (only OT tie in MNF history) November 7, 1983: NY Giants at Detroit November 28, 1983: Cincinnati at Miami December 12, 1983: Green Bay at Tampa Bay September 3, 1984: Dallas at LA Rams September 16, 1984: Denver at Cleveland (Sunday) September 17, 1984: Miami at Buffalo September 24, 1984: San Diego at LA Raiders October 1, 1984: Houston at Buffalo October 7, 1984: Houston at Cincinnati (Sunday) November 19, 1984: Pittsburgh at New Orleans November 26, 1984: NY Jets at Miami December 10, 1984: LA Raiders at Detroit September 12, 1985: LA Raiders at Kansas City (Thursday) October 28, 1985: San Diego at LA Raiders September 18, 1986: Cincinnati at Cleveland (Thursday) December 22, 1986: New England at Miami October 19, 1987: Washington at Dallas (first MNF package blackout in "Frank and Al and Dan" era) November 2, 1987: NY Giants at Dallas September 19, 1988: Indianapolis at Cleveland November 14, 1988: Buffalo at Miami December 12, 1988: Cleveland at Miami December 22, 1990: Washington at Indianapolis (Saturday) (first MNF package blackout after debut of new version of "Heavy Action" in 1990, as well as first blackout of a Hank Williams Jr. intro) December 9, 1991: Cincinnati at Miami September 14, 1992: Miami at Cleveland September 27, 1993: Pittsburgh at Atlanta November 29, 1993: San Diego at Indianapolis September 26, 1994: Denver at Buffalo November 28, 1994: San Francisco at New Orleans December 2, 1996: San Francisco at Atlanta (last MNF package blackout during "Frank and Al and Dan" era) January 3, 2000: San Francisco at Atlanta (last ever MNF blackout) ESPN Sunday Night Football Package: November 13, 1988: Minnesota at Dallas (first blackout on ESPN) November 20, 1988: New England at Miami November 25, 1990: Seattle at San Diego December 16, 1990: Chicago at Detroit November 10, 1991: New England at Miami December 8, 1991: Minnesota at Tampa Bay December 15, 1991: Buffalo at Indianapolis December 6, 1992: LA Rams at Tampa Bay December 19, 1993: Philadelphia at Indianapolis November 13, 1994: Tampa Bay at Detroit November 27, 1994: New England at Indianapolis November 26, 1995: Carolina at New Orleans November 30, 1995: NY Giants at Arizona (Thursday) December 23, 1995: New England at Indianapolis (Saturday) November 3, 1996: San Francisco at New Orleans November 17, 1996: Minnesota at Oakland December 5, 1996: Philadelphia at Indianapolis (Thursday) December 8, 1996: Minnesota at Detroit December 4, 1997: Tennessee at Cincinnati (Thursday) October 4, 1998: Philadelphia at Arizona November 15, 1998: Chicago at Detroit October 17, 1999: Washington at Arizona October 31, 1999: Tampa Bay at Detroit December 19, 1999: Buffalo at Arizona September 10, 2000: Dallas at Arizona November 26, 2000: NY Giants at Arizona December 23, 2000: Buffalo at Seattle (Saturday) October 18, 2001: Buffalo at Jacksonville (Thursday) December 31, 2005: NY Giants at Oakland (Saturday) (last ever blackout of a national TV game) TNT Sunday Night Football Package: September 30, 1990: Washington at Phoenix (first blackout on TNT) October 14, 1990: Green Bay at Tampa Bay October 18, 1990: New England at Miami (Thursday) September 22, 1991: Dallas at Phoenix October 6, 1991: Pittsburgh at Indianapolis September 13, 1992: Philadelphia at Phoenix September 20, 1992: LA Rams at New Orleans September 5, 1993: Houston at New Orleans October 14, 1993: LA Rams at Atlanta (Thursday) October 24, 1993: Indianapolis at Miami September 11, 1994: NY Giants at Arizona October 13, 1994: Cleveland at Houston (Thursday) September 10, 1995: Philadelphia at Arizona September 8, 1996: Miami at Arizona September 22, 1996: Philadelphia at Atlanta September 7, 1997: Dallas at Arizona September 28, 1997: Philadelphia at Minnesota (last blackout on TNT) Thanksgiving Games on CBS: November 28, 1974: Washington at Dallas November 24, 1977: Chicago at Detroit November 22, 1984: Green Bay at Detroit November 27, 1986: Green Bay at Detroit November 26, 1987: Minnesota at Dallas November 24, 1988: Minnesota at Detroit November 23, 1989: Philadelphia at Dallas (Bounty Bowl) November 22, 1990: Washington at Dallas (last ever national TV blackout of the Cowboys; last overall was against Phoenix later in 1990) National Saturday Games on CBS: December 7, 1974: Atlanta at Minnesota December 14, 1974: Minnesota at Kansas City December 20, 1975: Minnesota at Buffalo December 4, 1976: Atlanta at LA Rams December 11, 1976: Minnesota at Miami December 15, 1979: Green Bay at Detroit December 10, 1983: Atlanta at Miami December 21, 1985: Washington at Saint Louis December 10, 1988: Philadelphia at Phoenix December 15, 1990: Washington at New England December 29, 1990: Philadelphia at Phoenix December 12, 1992: NY Giants at Phoenix December 26, 1998: Kansas City at Oakland National Saturday Games on Fox: December 16, 1995: Green Bay at New Orleans December 23, 1995: Detroit at Tampa Bay December 24, 1999: Dallas at New Orleans (Friday) December 21, 2002: San Francisco at Arizona Thanksgiving Games on NBC (AFC Package): November 25, 1976: Buffalo at Detroit November 23, 1978: Denver at Detroit November 26, 1981: Kansas City at Detroit November 28, 1985: NY Jets at Detroit November 26, 1987: Kansas City at Detroit November 24, 1988: Houston at Dallas November 23, 1989: Cleveland at Detroit November 22, 1990: Denver at Detroit November 26, 1992: Houston at Detroit (last ever Thanksgiving blackout) National Saturday Games on NBC (AFC Package): December 7, 1974: Cleveland at Dallas December 20, 1975: Denver at Miami December 17, 1977: Buffalo at Miami December 15, 1979: NY Jets at Miami December 20, 1980: NY Jets at Miami (Announcerless game) December 12, 1981: NY Jets at Cleveland December 19, 1981: Buffalo at Miami December 18, 1982: NY Jets at Miami December 16, 1989: Denver at Phoenix Playoff Games on ABC: January 8, 1994: Green Bay at Detroit December 28, 1996: Jacksonville at Buffalo December 30, 2000: Indianapolis at Miami (last ever blackout on ABC) Playoff Games on CBS: December 23, 1973: LA Rams at Dallas December 22, 1974: Washington at LA Rams December 27, 1975: Saint Louis at LA Rams December 26, 1977: Minnesota at LA Rams December 31, 1978: LA Rams at Minnesota January 8, 1983: Saint Louis at Green Bay (regional, last ever blackout of a game from Lambeau Field, which was rare from 1973 to begin with, 6 games from Milwaukee were blacked out through 1992, overall, Packers represent the least blacked out team under the 1973 rules, while the Broncos, Steelers, and Washington have never been blacked out under the 1973 rules, except when NBC chose to broadcast the World Series instead of NFL at 1 PM in one week of 1975, resulting in a Steelers game being unavailable in Pittsburgh) January 9, 1983: Tampa Bay at Dallas (regional) December 23, 1984: NY Giants at LA Rams January 13, 2002: Baltimore at Miami (only AFC playoff game blacked out on CBS, last ever blackout of a playoff game, also the last ever blackout of a Dolphins game) Playoff Games on NBC (AFC Package): December 24, 1977: Oakland at Baltimore December 24, 1978: Houston at Miami January 8, 1983: New England at Miami (regional) January 8, 1983: Cleveland at LA Raiders (regional) January 16, 1983: NY Jets at LA Raiders December 31, 1983: Seattle at Miami January 1, 1984: Pittsburgh at LA Raiders January 5, 1986: New England at LA Raiders January 3, 1993: Houston at Buffalo (The Comeback) Edited February 27, 2021 by pf9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayRaider Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Thank you FF’s walking encyclopedia. I mean that as a compliment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 (edited) National TV blackouts per team (home games only, teams listed under current names, even if no blackouts occurred in current city): Miami: 34 Detroit: 25 Arizona: 20 Dallas: 13 Buffalo: 11 LA Rams: 11 Las Vegas: 11 Indianapolis: 9 New Orleans: 9 Cleveland: 8 Atlanta: 6 Tampa Bay: 6 Kansas City: 5 New England: 4 San Francisco: 4 Cincinnati: 3 Minnesota: 3 LA Chargers: 2 Green Bay: 1 Tennessee: 1 Jacksonville: 1 NY Jets: 1 Seattle: 1 National TV blackouts per matchup (regardless of location, teams listed under current names, even if no blackouts occurred in current city): 7 times: Miami-New England 6 times: Buffalo-Miami 5 times: Arizona-NY Giants Arizona-Philadelphia Chicago-Detroit Miami-NY Jets 4 times: Cincinnati-Miami Detroit-Green Bay Detroit-Tampa Bay Indianapolis-Miami Kansas City-Las Vegas 3 times: Arizona-Dallas Arizona-Washington Atlanta-LA Rams Atlanta-San Francisco Dallas-Washington Indianapolis-New England LA Chargers-Las Vegas 2 times: Buffalo-Jacksonville Buffalo-Minnesota Buffalo-Tennessee Cincinnati-Cleveland Cincinnati-Tennessee Cleveland-Miami Dallas-LA Rams Dallas-Minnesota Dallas-New Orleans Denver-Detroit Detroit-Kansas City Detroit-Minnesota Detroit-NY Jets Green Bay-Tampa Bay Indianapolis-Philadelphia LA Rams-Minnesota LA Rams-New Orleans LA Rams-NY Giants LA Rams-San Francisco LA Rams-Washington Las Vegas-Miami Miami-Tennessee New Orleans-Pittsburgh New Orleans-San Francisco 1 time: Arizona-Denver Arizona-Green Bay Arizona-LA Rams Arizona-Miami Arizona-San Francisco Atlanta-Miami Atlanta-Minnesota Atlanta-NY Jets Atlanta-Philadelphia Atlanta-Pittsburgh Arizona-Buffalo Buffalo-Denver Buffalo-Detroit Buffalo-Indianapolis Buffalo-Kansas City Buffalo-Las Vegas Buffalo-NY Giants Buffalo-Seattle Carolina-New Orleans Chicago-Cleveland Cincinnati-LA Rams Cincinnati-Las Vegas Cleveland-Dallas Cleveland-Denver Cleveland-Detroit Cleveland-Indianapolis Cleveland-Las Vegas Cleveland-New England Cleveland-NY Jets Cleveland-Tennessee Dallas-Kansas City Dallas-NY Giants Dallas-Philadelphia Dallas-San Francisco Dallas-Tampa Bay Dallas-Tennessee Denver-Miami Denver-New England Detroit-LA Rams Detroit-Las Vegas Detroit-NY Giants Detroit-Tennessee Green Bay-New Orleans Indianapolis-LA Chargers Indianapolis-Las Vegas Indianapolis-Pittsburgh Indianapolis-Washington Kansas City-LA Chargers Kansas City-Minnesota LA Chargers-Miami LA Chargers-NY Jets LA Chargers-Seattle LA Rams-Tampa Bay Las Vegas-Minnesota Las Vegas-New England Las Vegas-NY Giants Las Vegas-NY Jets Las Vegas-Pittsburgh Miami-Minnesota Miami-Pittsburgh Miami-Seattle Minnesota-Philadelphia Minnesota-San Francisco Minnesota-Tampa Bay New England-NY Jets New England-Washington New Orleans-Tennessee Pittsburgh-San Francisco Edited February 11, 2021 by pf9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 In creating the stats post I just noticed that one of the national TV blackouts was the 1980 MNF game between the Patriots and the Dolphins from the Orange Bowl. During that game, Howard Cosell broke the news that John Lennon had been murdered. Because the game was not shown on TV in South Florida, those who lived there at the time had to find out the news by watching Nightline, or by reading the newspaper the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 Also, when a cable game was blacked out locally, the station that planned to simulcast the game instead aired their network's normal schedule for the night, unless they were independent or affiliated with a network that did not air programming on Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday nights at the time, in which cases syndicated programming aired during what would have been the timeslots for the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbuff Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Yeah i used to hate blackouts as a kid. I just remember being super upset that i wasn’t able to watch my 6-8 Buffalo Bills in December as a 10 year old because if Miami, Denver, Baltimore, and the Titans all lost out, and the Chargers lost 2/3 the Bills would be in!!! I felt robbed of the opportunity to watch that unfold 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superduperman Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 The combo of a usually-bad team and an 80,000+ seat stadium from 1975 until 2002 is why Detroit is high on that list despite having probably far less national games than most teams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyld Stallyns Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 tl:dr did you mention the Heidi game? Most here are not old enough to remember a game in 1968 (I personally hadn’t been born yet) being pre-empted by a nationally broadcast movie. Raiders mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter to beat the Jets but NBC had been contractually obligated to air the movie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malfatron Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 panthers - packers this year for the madison area. (unless you had nfl network) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyB Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 can you please list every game that wasn't blacked out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pf9 Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 Besides the announcement of John Lennon's death, one other national TV Game from Miami in 1980 was blacked out in South Florida The December 20 game against the Jets did not sell out, thus keeping South Florida and the Fort Myers area from seeing the NFL's only announcerless game ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.