Sunday's home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs is a sellout. The Detroit Lions announced the news today, confirming there will not be a blackout.

This season there isn't expected to be a single blackout. With hope and optimism among fans higher than we have seen in a long time, ticket sales are up quite a bit. In fact, two games are now sellouts already -- Sunday's matchup against the Chiefs and next month's Monday night game against the Bears.

Not only are ticket sales on the rise, but so are TV ratings. According to Lions president Tom Lewand, this past Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the highest rated Lions game since 2003. That's pretty good, especially since the game was blacked out in the Tampa area.

If the Lions sustain their recent success, we should continue to see ticket sales and TV ratings go up for their games.