Remember Mike Fasano's legislative attempt last year to fine NFL teams in Florida for every game blacked out on local television? Maybe you don't, because the bill proposed by the Pasco County lawmaker went nowhere in the Legislature. The bill's fate was the same as every other attempt by the government or private sector to affect the NFL blackout laws, which until last year stated that teams had to sell out a home game 72 hours in advance of kickoff or have the game yanked from the team's home television market.
The blackout rule had remained unchanged for nearly 40 years until 2012, when the NFL voluntarily loosened the rule, lifting the ban if a team could sell at least 85 percent of its seats.
This article appears in May 9-15, 2013.