Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., claims the NFL's blackout rule, instituted in 1973 and regulated by the FCC, is extreme, archaic and poor public policy. In May, the 2008 presidential nominee introduced a bill that would prohibit the league from blacking out games in markets in which teams have used public financing for stadium construction, Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. "I think that's outrageous," McCain testified May 14 during a Senate subcommittee hearing. "Now, if that stadium is not taxpayer-financed, then that owner can do anything they want to. But if the taxpayers paid for them then, by God, I think the taxpayers ought to be able to see the game whether they sell out the stadium or not." McCain's eight-page Television Consumer Freedom Act, proposed legislation that would curb cable operators' ability to bundle channels and allow viewers to purchase them from an "a la carte" menu. The blackout ban is the final sentence of the bill. Its language does not define public stadium financing or even mention the 1961 antitrust law that has allowed the NFL to exclusively negotiate, on behalf of its teams, billions of dollars worth of television contracts. Source: The Redzone
The a la carte thing is going to prevent this from passing, because the Democrats are funded by Hollywood.
