Once again, politics are making their way into the National Football League.
This time, it's Rep. Jason Holsman, a Kansas City Democrat, who has filed a bill that would effectively reverse the NFL's policy that non-sellouts at stadiums are blacked out from being televised in the local viewing market.
This report first came from Steve Kraske of the Prime Buzz blog.
House Bill 1986 is likely coming into play because one Kansas City Chiefs game and three St. Louis Rams games were blacked out this season.
Holsman argues that many fans of the NFL simply can't afford the gameday experience, yet are forced to subsidize parts of the league via state and local taxes.
"It isn’t asking much of a league that benefits greatly from taxpayer subsidies to guarantee that scheduled television broadcasts of home games won’t be blacked out due to failure of the team to achieve a sellout."
"For the millions of dollars Kansas City, St. Louis and Missouri taxpayers have poured into the Chiefs and Rams, they deserve something in return."
Holsman also makes a plea for the small business around the metro. He argues that many bars and restaurants, which pay the 3/8th cent sales tax to the renovation of Arrowhead Stadium, plan entire Sundays around the Chiefs game.