The NFL’s blackout policy lifts attendance, generates negligible...

The NFL’s blackout policy lifts attendance, generates negligible output effects and tempers clubs’ incentive to raise ticket prices, said the league in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 12-3 (http://bit.ly/Wnxifn). It said the economic analysis supports the conclusion that retention of the sports blackout rule is in the public interest. That there are few blackouts implies that the policy is working by stimulating demand, and “not that the policy is unnecessary,” it said. The research was done by Economists Inc., NFL said. The filing recounted a meeting with the researchers and staff from the FCC Media Bureau and Office of Strategic Planning.