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Raiders need 24 hour extension to avoid local blackout

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Those of you wondering if the Raiders current record would effect ticket sales you already have an answer. Yes it has. The Raiders have asked for and have been granted a 24 hour extension to sell enough tickets to avoid the dreaded local television blackout.

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Due to current blackout rules home teams must have sold at least 85% of available tickets to avoid a local (Within a 75-mile radius) blackout on television. Up until now the Raiders had managed to sell out every game for the last 10 home games, but that streak is now in jeopardy.

Oakland is sitting at 1-4 for their record and it appears to be effecting their ticket sales. Its hard economic times for the City of Oakland. That means it is hard to shell out that type of money to see a losing team if you are one of the economically stricken residents of Oakland and the surrounding areas. Many die hard fans would love to go but simply can not afford to.

The Raiders may still be able to sell this game out and stay televised in their local TV areas. Its already been a hard year for Raider fans, hopefully it won't get worse for local fans by having this week's game against the Jaguars be blacked out.

The blackout rules are archaic and should be removed altogether during these tough economic times but the NFL believes in them to keep the stadiums sold out. If people can not afford to go to the games then they should be able to choose to stay home and watch them on TV. If you were thinking about going to the game then give your Raider Nation brethren a helping hand and buy your tickets today.

I live outside the black out radius by about 2,000 miles but I will still be hoping all the local Raider fans will be able to watch the game this Sunday even if they can't or do not want to attend the game.