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The new law also reinforced the “blackout rule.” TV viewers inside a 75-mile radius of an NFL game could not receive the telecast. That meant local fans had to be at the game to see their favorite team. Without theBroadcast Act, theNFL’smerger with the American Football League in 1966 never would have happened. Nor would each of today’s 32 teams be receiving $200 million a year from 2014 to 2022,

NFL TV coverage has gone from a few cameras in fixed positions to the dozens of mobile units that cover Super Bowls.

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