Judy Gunville and her grandchildren Bailey (left) and Logan Normand hold the tickets they purchased at Lambeau Field. Credit: Mark Hoffman

By of the

Our TV blackout nightmare is over.

Sunday's wild-card playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers is a sellout, ensuring the game will not be blacked out in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Wausau.

The franchise announced Friday the game had been sold out. The Packers had until 4 p.m. Friday to avoid an NFL-imposed TV blackout in the three local television markets.

The franchise had to get help, though. In addition to fan sales, a group of Packers corporate partners, led by Associated Bank, purchased the remaining available tickets Friday to ensure the sellout and TV broadcast. Other corporate partners were Fox TV affiliates WITI (Channel 6 in Milwaukee), WLUK (Green Bay) and WFXS (Wausau); Mills Fleet Farm; and Bellin Health.

"We're very thankful to Packers fans, and our partners led by Associated Bank, for ensuring Sunday's game will be sold out," Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy said.

Cliff Bowers, an Associated Bank spokesman, declined to say how many tickets the bank purchased but said all the tickets will be distributed to bank employees and customers.

Chuck Steinmetz, WITI's general manager, said the Fox affiliates worked with the Packers to ensure the sellout. He called the Fox affiliates' contribution "significant."

"We bought a lot of tickets, and a lot of them are going to nonprofits," he said.

Steinmetz estimated that just under 1 million people in southeast Wisconsin will tune in to the game.

The National Football League said the last time a postseason game was blacked out to local markets was Jan. 13, 2002, for a Baltimore Ravens vs. Miami Dolphins game.

According to The Associated Press, while the Miami game was blacked out in local markets, the game did sell out by kickoff.

The local blackout rule was in place until 1973, when the NFL lifted that and imposed the 72-hour rule. Teams must sell out games at least 72 hours before kickoff to ensure that the game can be shown on local television. Local television is defined as markets within 75 miles, although the Packers' market includes Milwaukee.

The Packers said on Monday there were 40,000 tickets left. By Thursday night, that had been winnowed to approximately 3,000, and the NFL granted the Packers an extension to sell the rest.

The Packers made available more than 200 tickets for free to the USO of Wisconsin. A spokeswoman for the service organization said the 200-plus tickets were snapped up in 46 minutes. And high schools in the Green Bay area were offered tickets.

This season, the Packers added 7,000 seats to the south end-zone area, bringing the Lambeau Field capacity to 80,750. Lambeau has the third-highest capacity in the NFL, behind FedEx Field in Washington, D.C., and MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands in New Jersey.

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, has a lower capacity than Lambeau, but can be expanded to 90,000 or more with the use of temporary seating.

The Packers' trouble in filling their stadium is especially surprising given that the NFL had a record low number of blackouts this season. Only two games were not televised in the local market of a home team. There were no blackouts in 15 of the 17 weeks of the season, also a league record.

The previous record low was set in 2006 when seven games were blacked out. In 2006, 13 of 17 weekends experienced no blackouts, a record until this year.

If selling tickets to ensure a sellout isn't challenging enough, fans who show up at Lambeau for the 3:40 p.m. kickoff will have to contend with bitter cold. Forecasters say the high on Sunday will be at or below zero.