NFL Will Drop Television Blackout Rule For 2015 Season

Raiders and Bills fans, rejoice!

The NFL announced Monday the league will repeal its archaic television blackout rule in 2015.

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The local broadcast restriction was originally intended to encourage local fans to get themselves to games (and therefore spend money on tickets and other sources of revenue).

However, some teams, including the Raiders and Bills, were disproportionately affected by the rule because of smaller markets, weather, or underperformance.

In 2013, the Raiders went as far as to tarp off the highest section of their stadium to reduce recorded capacity and fare a better chance of reaching the 75% sellout threshold.

In 2014, the FCC voted to do away with a rule that allowed cable and satellite broadcasters to blackout games nationally based on local blackout decisions.

At the end of the 2015 season, the NFL "will evaluate how the rule change played out during the season and then discuss what they will do next off-season," according to the Wall Street Journal .

In recent years, the NFL in-stadium game experience has failed to keep up with the information and replay detail provided by the television broadcast.

Earlier today, the league announced that the Jaguars–Bills game that will take place in London in October will be digitally broadcast worldwide in what will be the league's first attempt at streaming a game online; however, cable providers already allow subscribers to watch some games online.

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Former NFL Player Darren Sharper Gets Two Prison Sentences For Rape Charges

Sharper is charged with multiple counts of drugging and raping women in four states.

Former NFL player Darren Sharper on Monday pled guilty to rape charges in Las Vegas and Arizona as part of a plea deal to resolve accusations against him in four states.

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Prosecutors have called him a "serial rapist" due to the formulaic nature of the allegations against him: In each state, he is accused of drugging women he met at bars then sexually assaulting them later that night.

He was charged with two counts of sexual assault and was facing a possible life sentence in Las Vegas. Sharper's deal allowed him to plead guilty to one charge of attempted sexual assault. He will serve a minimum of 38 months in prison, which can be served concurrently with sentences from his other cases.

In Arizona, Sharper was sentenced to nine years in prison with credit for 391 days served. He pled guilty to two counts of attempted sexual assault and one sexual assault charge.

Sharper was arrested in January 2014 on sexual assault charges in Los Angeles.

He is expected to plead guilty to state and federal charges in New Orleans later this month.

Sharper's NFL career began in 1997 when he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. He retired in 2011, having most recently played with the New Orleans Saints, with whom he won a Super Bowl.

He was working for the NFL Network as an analyst at the time of his arrest.

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Chris Borland Will Pay The 49ers Back $436,077 After Retiring Due To Brain Trauma Fears

The 24-year old linebacker who retired due to brain trauma concerns told Face The Nation on Sunday he will return 75% of his signing bonus.

Chris Borland said on Sunday's Face The Nation that he will pay back 75% of his $617,436 signing bonus the San Francisco 49ers.

CBS News

Borland signed a four-year rookie contract with the 49ers last year. The value of his lump-sum signing bonus was meant to cover playing time for the entire contract. For the three years he did not play, Borland said will pay back $436,077.

Host Bob Schieffer asked Borland about the NFL's statement, released after his retirement announcement, saying "football has never been safer. [...] We are seeing a growing culture of safety."

Borland replied, "Football is inherently dangerous, and that will never change. When I hit a fullback on a run play, talking about the culture of safety is irrelevant."

When asked about concussions, Borland said he is more concerned about cumulative sub-concussive brain trauma than the number of physician-diagnosed concussions, which he says have "twenty different definitions."

Tony Avelar / AP

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College Baseball Player Cut From Team Over Vulgar Mo'ne Davis Tweet

Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania said Joey Casselberry has been dismissed from the team over his comments about the 13-year-old Little League World Series star.

A college baseball player has been cut from his team after he made vulgar comments about 13-year-old Little League World Series star Mo'ne Davis on Twitter.

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He also mocked her team's loss in the 2014 series.

Casselberry has since deleted the tweet and his account, but it was soon captured by many on social media.

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Two-Time MVP Steve Nash Announces Retirement From Basketball

After a 19-year-career on the court, that was hindered by injuries in the last three years, Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash announced Saturday that he is ready to retire. The 41-year-old Canadian wrote about his decision on The Players’ Tribune website.

"When you're a teenager with outsized dreams and a growing obsession, and someone tells you this ain't gonna last forever, it's scary," Nash wrote in The Player's Tribune, a website for which he is the senior producer. "I never forgot it."

But the 41-year-old guard for the Los Angeles Lakers wrote he was "excited to learn to do something else."

"At the heart of this letter, I'm speaking to kids everywhere who have no idea what the future holds or how to take charge of their place in it," Nash wrote. "When I think of my career, I can't help but think of the kid with his ball, falling in love. That's still what I identify with and did so throughout my entire story."

Nash was a sharp shooter on the court known for his speed, but also leaves the NBA with 10,335 assists -- the third highest figure in the league's history.

With an accuracy of 90.4%, he also retires as as the best free-throw shooter in NBA history.

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Mexican Wrestler Perro Aguayo Jr. Dies During Fight

The 35-year-old wrestler was pronounced dead early Saturday at a Tijuana hospital after a match involving former WWE superstar Rey Mysterio.

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This Basketball Player's Last Name Is The F-Bomb And He Wants To Use It

What’s in a name?

Guilherme Carbagiale Fuck, a 6-foot, 6-inch forward for the Canadian Medicine Hat Rattlers, says he's tired of not being allowed to use his real last name.

mhc.ab.ca

"When they asked my opinion I said I want to have my last-last name, I'm not ashamed of it," said Fuck. "I would rather always use my last-last name. Back in Brazil that's what I use, I don't use my first-last name."

His coach, Craig Price, says he support's Fuck's decision to be known as such.

Fuck says his name is the German word for fox. Google Translate says the direct translation is "Fuchs," but language is weird, right!?

He's been pretty fucking good for the Medicine Hat Rattlers, averaging 18.35 points per game, and recording a 52% field goal percentage and a 42.5% in threes.

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