It was a game that had it all, from big catches to big hits and even a little controversy. It was, in a word, a “classic.” Due to Grey Cup preparations, McMahon was beyond capacity. There were over 38,000 fans on the edge of their seats on a perfect October afternoon for football – and yet the game was blacked out.

I live 64.2 km away from the cement and dirty white roof of BC Place and when the Roughriders are in town, I am unable to watch the game because of blackout. Now, I could buy a ticket and travel the distance to watch the game in one of the worst places to watch a game in Canada. I love the crowd noise (even though it is piped in) but the game hosts yelling into their microphone to try and get the normally dry crowd going is really annoying.

With gas, parking and the two hours of time to get there it just isn’t worth it. Not to mention that my wife works Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and I have to watch the kids, making babysitting another cost I’d have to budget in for the night.

Blackouts are a thing of the past. The Canucks have no problem filling their seats for 40+ games a year and almost all of their games are televised.

The CFL product is not the problem and it isn’t even the stadium. The problem is that the CFL does not market its players or its game properly. Suitor nails it in his blog post.

Then, there are those who can’t afford to buy season tickets or can’t physically get to a game. And don’t even get me started on the possible marketing opportunities when you show hundreds of thousands of potential new customers your product on what, when it is right, can become the best three and half hour commercial you will ever get. Some owners will argue that it costs them thousands of dollars to lift a blackout, but I wonder how much it would cost to run a three and a half hour advertisement promoting your product on national TV.

Has anyone actually decided to go to a game because it may have been blacked out at home?

The best 5 minutes of the US Congress in 2008.

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