The National Football League must "end blackouts once and for all [or] Congress will be forced to act," two senators told the league yesterday.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after the Federal Communications Commission eliminated rules that helped support the NFL's blackout policies. Commission members urged the NFL to stop blacking out games but acknowledged that the league still has the power to enforce blackouts through private contracts.

"[W]e write to urge the NFL to view this as an opportunity to recognize that unpopular blackouts are no longer justified in today’s environment," McCain and Blumenthal wrote to Goodell. "We ask that you capitalize on the FCC’s vote this week and voluntarily rescind your requirement that local television stations black out games that fail to sell out. The NFL has received substantial benefits from the public in the form of antitrust exemptions, a specialized tax status, and direct taxpayer dollars that subsidize football arenas and stadiums. These generous benefits were extended to leagues like the NFL in part based on recognition that sports leagues play a central role in our national culture, promote teamwork, and generate jobs and economic activity across the country. But, the provision of these substantial public benefits requires that the NFL meet basic obligations to the American public and loyal fans, and this includes abandoning rules that punish those same fans."

The NFL issued a statement after the FCC's vote on Tuesday, saying it would make no change to its policies. The NFL praised itself for being "the only sports league that televises every one of its games on free, over-the-air television." However, the NFL prevents games from being shown on local TV when tickets don't sell out. Teams are allowed to reduce the likelihood of a blackout by only requiring that 85 percent of tickets be sold, but the NFL has refused to end the blackouts entirely.

McCain and Blumenthal last year proposed the Furthering Access and Networks for Sports (“FANS”) Act, which they said "would condition the antitrust exemption the league enjoys through the Sports Broadcasting Act on ending sports blackouts."

Congress hasn't acted upon the bill, but McCain and Blumenthal appear ready to push for its passage. "If the NFL fails to show leadership to finally end blackouts once and for all, Congress will be forced to act," they wrote to Goodell. "We urge you to proactively rescind NFL policies that prevent loyal fans from enjoying the game and reform those practices that cause the league to fall short of the obligation it has to the American public."

The NFL's antitrust exemption provides great leeway in negotiating TV contracts. The 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act gave sports leagues "legal permission to conduct television-broadcast negotiations in a way that otherwise would have been price collusion," Gregg Easterbrook wrote in an excerpt of his book, The King of Sports: Football's Impact on America. The NFL gained further benefits from Congress in 1966. "Essentially, the 1966 statute said that if the two pro-football leagues of that era merged—they would complete such a merger four years later, forming the current NFL—the new entity could act as a monopoly regarding television rights," Easterbrook wrote.