NBA Blackout Rules (Basketball)- Article no. 1788

Estimated Reading Time: 1 Minutes

NBA Blackouts Information on TNT

Blackouts are established by the NBA to protect the ticket sales and local television rights for home teams
As part of TNT's contractual agreement with the NBA, games are always blacked out within a 35-mile radius from the Headend (where signal is received) to the home team's city of operation; no exceptions
In the case of a blackout, TNT makes every effort to provide the local cable operator with alternate programming
Due to time and technical limitations, as well as local sponsorship obligations, cable operators can't always provide alternate programming

Sports Programming Blackout Rules

Occasionally, the company is required by law to prevent showing certain programs; blackouts affect sporting events, as well as other programming
Blackouts are imposed to protect the local team's ability to attract a live audience, and television rights revenue by preventing duplication of any event by multiple carriers
In each case, there is one network designated as the Exclusive Carrier of an event of a specific sports team
The exclusive network arranged for this privilege at it's own expense; FCC regulations require a blackout to all other event carriers