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Orchard Park (WBEN) -- The head of a group that works to ensure the long-term future of pro sports in Buffalo -- is surprised a change to the NFL blackout rule happened so fast.
In addition to the work done by Congressman Brian Higgins, Matt Sabuda, president of the Buffalo Fan Alliance, says the NFL deserves credit for changing the rule.
"It's something that just came to their attention as far as fans speaking out, as recently as February, but this is something that they changed so quickly on, and they listened to fans," Sabuda says.
NFL owners recently approved a resolution allowing teams to decide to broadcast games locally when more than 85 percent of seats are filled, a change in the longtime requirement for full capacity seating.
Sabuda says that Bills fans played a role in this rule change.
"It's safe to say that NFL fans in general owe a big thanks to Bills fans and Buffalo fans, and expatriates that wrote in and said that this is a rule that really, really needs to change," he says.
Sabuda says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got more input from the Buffalo market on this issue than from any other area in the country.