Over the weekend, something quite noteworthy happened: The Detroit Lions snapped a 19-game losing streak with a 19-14 home victory against the Washington Redskins. Many of you reading this have probably seen the highlights replayed countless times on ESPN and the NFL Network. But the people for whom this win mattered most—the fans in Detroit—were kept in the dark for the duration of the game, thanks to the NFL’s arcane television blackout policy.

The NFL blackout policy, which has been in place since 1973, mandates that a home game cannot be televised locally (defined as a 75-mile radius around the stadium) if it has not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff. The idea is to ensure a full stadium for every game and protect teams’ ticket revenue. Only once has the NFL ever lifted this policy: 2005, when the New Orleans Saints were unable to play any home games due to damage to the Superdome caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Fast forward to September 2009. The Great Recession has allegedly ended, AIG is comfortable enough on its cushion of our tax dollars to return to doling out multimillion-dollar bonuses daily, death panels have taken a backseat to the public option, and unemployment in Detroit is hovering around 30 percent. Think about that last one for a minute. Nearly three out of every ten people in the Motor City is currently out of a job. And when you don’t have a job, things like food and the electricity bill tend to take precedence over items such as football tickets. The announced attendance at Ford Field on Sunday was 40,896—leaving over 24,000 empty chairs in the 65,000-seat stadium. Quite understandable when you consider that single-game tickets start at $42, according to the Lions’ website. When you factor in concessions and parking, the cost of attending the game easily approaches $75, money that people who have to watch every penny can’t just plunk down without thinking twice.

Given the circumstances, then, it’s certainly not a stretch to say that there would be no shame in the NFL relaxing its blackout policy to give the ailing Motor City and its fans a break. There have been several examples this year of the uplifting effect of sports in Detroit—Sports Illustrated recently ran a piece detailing the significance of the Michigan State men’s basketball team’s run to the national title game at Ford Field, even in a city typically dominated by fans of the maize and blue, and last week’s issue contained an article on the obligation the Tigers feel to the city and their fans. (And don’t forget the Red Wings’ run to the Stanley Cup finals, which ended in Game 7 heartbreak only because NHL Commissioner and Canadian Public Enemy No. 1 Gary Bettman couldn’t bear the thought of his gerrymandering of the ’05 draft failing him two years in a row). Certainly, allowing Detroiters to enjoy some gridiron action every Sunday, particularly something as significant as their team’s first win since December 2007, could be expected to provide a similar boost to the city’s psyche.

But alas, the NFL has already come out and said it will not lift the blackout restrictions. Never mind how hard the city and its populace have been hit by the recession. Nope, it’s sellout or bust for Motown. Some commentators have supported the NFL’s stubbornness, expressing concern about the precedent it would set if the league waived its blackout restrictions in this instance. Many have invoked the example of the Jacksonville Jaguars in their arguments. But the cases of Jacksonville and Detroit are substantially different.
Despite playing in the largest city in Florida, the Jaguars have struggled to sell tickets for the past decade, even going so far as to cover seating sections in their home stadium to lower the number of tickets they must sell to avoid a TV blackout. While I in no way mean to minimize the effects of the recession, the Jaguars, despite four consecutive playoff appearances—including back-to-back AFC Central titles—in the late ’90s, have consistent struggled to attract and maintain fan support; the current ticket-selling struggles are not a new phenomenon for the city’s only pro sports team. Detroit, on the other hand, is one of the nation’s best sports towns; the Red Wings and Pistons regularly sell out their respective arenas, and the Tigers are averaging nearly 31,000 fans per game in 2009. Fans have proven their ability and willingness to support four pro teams, and the NFL has no reason to fear a marked decline in ticket sales in the absence of its blackout policy.

As former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue once said, “Some towns are football towns and some towns are museum towns.” And while Baltimore, Tagliabue’s favorite museum town ,is averaging over 70,000 fans in 2009, not all 29 football towns are as fortunate economically. The time has come for the NFL to show some flexibility, relax the TV blackout rule, and give the good people of Detroit what they deserve.