The Chargers might have been being coy earlier this week about how many seats they had left to sell to avoid a television blackout of their home opener against the Titans, but they’ve decided to go the explicit route with time running short.
They released a statement Thursday afternoon announcing that they have received a 24-hour extension to sell enough seats to avoid the blackout. According to the team, they must sell approximately 2,100 seats by 1:25 p.m. PT on Friday in order to avoid the blackout. They also made sure to let people know that there are plenty of club seats available, although selling those seats would do nothing to assure the game is on television for those not at Qualcomm Stadium.
The Chargers chose not to take advantage of the new rule allowing them to lower the blackout threshold by up to 15 percent in order to make it easier to avoid blackouts. Doing so would have cost the team 16 cents more per ticket on any sold above the newly established threshold.
Even if the Chargers can’t sell out their remaining non-premium seats, the team could buy up the remainder at 34 cents on the dollar to ensure that the game is aired locally. They have given no indication about what they plan to do on that front, although Thursday’s statement makes it clear that they would prefer to sell the seats they have left rather than purchase them for themselves.