Call it Christmas come late for area Vikings fans.
Regardless of whether National Football League and Minnesota Vikings officials "black out" Sunday's playoff game on Twin Cities television, fans here will see the first-round playoff contest against the Philadelphia Eagles, said Jim Shaw, news director at KVRR-TV, the Fargo-Moorhead Fox TV affiliate.
The likelihood of the game not being shown in the Twin Cities diminished Friday afternoon when the NFL granted the Vikings one more chance to sell the remaining 3,100 tickets for the 3:30 p.m. Sunday game, extending the deadline for tickets sales until 3:30 p.m. today. The Vikings already had been granted a 24-hour extension.
But regardless of a Metrodome sellout, Shaw said local fans will see the game on KVRR.
"It's our expectation that if there was (a blackout), it would not affect us," Shaw said Friday. "We fully expect to carry the game whether they sell enough tickets or not, whether they decide to black it out or not."
ADVERTISEMENT
The NFL can decide not to show - or "black out" - a home game in a team's local television market if the team doesn't sell out the tickets available at the stadium. Blackouts are used to encourage ticket sales.
The Vikings made big strides in reducing the number of unsold tickets Friday, selling nearly 5,000, hoping to avoid the team's first television blackout since 1997.
The remaining tickets are $80, $120 and $160 apiece.
After clinching the NFL's NFC North championship on the last game of the regular season, the Vikings made the playoffs for the first time since the 2004 season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Readers can reach Forum News Editor Devlyn Brooks at (701) 241-5505
