Cowboys TV Blackout Talk Is “Total Lunacy”

The Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday will be broadcast in North Texas, and talk of a possible TV blackout was a "non-issue," a team spokesman said Wednesday.

In fact, the Cowboys could shatter all-time NFL attendance records, said Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple.

A few media outlets reported Tuesday that because the game wasn't sold out, it could be blacked-out.

"It's a non-story," said Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple. "It's a non-issue."

According to NFL rules, if games aren't sold out, they cannot be broadcast in their home cities. The idea is to make sure stadium seats are full.

But in this case, the Cowboys say the game is already considered "sold out."

The game, against the New York Giants, will be broadcast on NBC 5.

The confusion apparently started when the team released about 1,000 tickets to be sold on Monday. Only a few hundred of the tickets remained available late Wednesday.

An NFL spokesman also squelched talk of a blackout.

"We expect all Cowboy home games to be televised locally in the Metroplex," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello.

Randy Galloway spent part of his radio show on ESPN 103.3 FM reassuring football fans they can watch the game on television.

"There's absolutely nothing that panics local sports fans more than to hear, 'Blackout! Blackout of a Cowboys' home game!'" Galloway said. "For anyone even to suggest there was going to be a blackout, that's total lunacy."

Galloway said he could not remember the last time a Cowboys' home game was not shown locally.

The new stadium in Arlington seats about 82,000. But the Cowboys are selling "party passes" -- essentially standing-room only -- that are expected to swell the attendance to more than 100,000.

The NFL said standing-room only seats, club seats and suites do not figure into the blackout rules.

The current attendance record was set on Oct. 2, 2005, at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, when the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals played in front of 103,467 fans.