It’s Thursday. And that means we’ll begin seeing the e-mails and other announcements from NFL teams that have obtained a 24-hour extension of the deadline for selling out their home stadium.
But, this week, the Lions haven’t gotten an extension. Instead, they’ve accepted the reality that the team’s Week Three home game against the Redskins will not be sold out, and therefore will not be televised locally.
Per the Detroit News, more than 10,000 tickets were available on Wednesday. Though the Lions wouldn’t disclose the number of unsold seats that remain, it’s more than enough to make an attempt at selling them all by Friday at 1:00 p.m. ET futile.
Last week, the Lions sold out the stadium, with an extension. The fact that their second home game of the season will be played before so many empty seats doesn’t bode well for the remaining six.
The good news for Lions fans is that blacked-out games will be available in the affected markets on NFL.com, beginning at midnight Sunday and for 72 hours thereafter.
So we predict that Tim Taylor will be building a miniature hot box in his backyard and locking himself in there until the clock strikes 12, at which time he’ll call up the game and watch it without knowing the outcome.
As long as he doesn’t notice the final score on the front page of NFL.com.