COLUMBUS, Ohio – There could be a shortage of football in three cities on this first weekend of the NFL playoffs.
The league is giving the Colts, Bengals and Packers one more day to sell their remaining playoff tickets and avoid local television blackouts.
The Colts announced their extension on their website Thursday, about an hour before a previous extension was supposed to expire. Fewer than 3,500 tickets remained for Saturday’s wild-card game against Kansas City (11-5). The team had said about 5,500 tickets were left Wednesday night.
The Bengals (11-5) also had tickets left for their game Sunday afternoon against San Diego (9-7). The Packers (8-7-1) had roughly 3,000 tickets left for the wild-card game Sunday against San Francisco (12-4).
Normally, teams must sell out 72 hours before kickoff to have a game broadcast in the local market. They can get one-day extensions if they think a sellout is possible.
An analyst says the Cincinnati Bengals’ first home playoff game in three years could have an economic impact of $14 million for the region.