The Cincinnati Bengals announced earlier this week that this weekend's contest between the Bengals and the Indianapolis Colts won't be sold out before Thursday's deadline to prevent a blackout. With the belief (on our behalf) that the Bengals might be thinking an early announcement could lead fans to stampede the ticket office, it totally proved completely warrantless because the team didn't bother to request an extension, which are typically granted if a sellout is close. And yes, if the Bengals were able to sellout before the deadline (or the extended deadline) the blackout would have been lifted.
However if the Bengals actually believed an early announcement that the game would be blacked out would force fans that paid their hard-earned and limited dollars, to show up, it really goes to show their overall lack of understanding with the economics fans have in the area. Yes. Other NFL cities are dealing with similar population sizes are confronted with the same thing. However Bengals fans, due to Mike Brown's history running this organization, are less willing to invest that money as fans with similar incomes in cities like Pittsburgh or Green Bay where the investment is far more worth it because it's believed both teams are expressively trying to win every game, every year. It's always about money; how much of it you have and how willing are you to invest whatever disposable income you have on the Bengals. Neither of which is one bit relevant about how supportive or not a Bengals fan is to the Bengals.
I believe this fully: If tickets were reduced in price, Paul Brown Stadium would sellout today. That being said, Cincinnati isn't the only team blacked out this weekend. According to Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be blacked out this weekend against the New Orleans Saints.