Can/could someone explain to me who "blacking out" games is supposed to encourage fans to attend them?
I ask this because in my view, out-of-sight, out-of-mind. The hardcore fans will ALWAYS be there. It's the fair weather ones that stop watching/attending games. So in essence, you (NFL) are punishing the fans who still somewhat care to watch their team (in this case, the Lions).
I've never understood the approach. They are still selling advertisements during games, right? So even if attendance is low, there's still that. And I guarantee you that the Lions game gets much higher ratings than whatever is shown in its place (usually re-runs, or some really obnoxious infomercials).
I don't get it....