By Sabrina Eaton Lawmakers including Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown are facing off over a Federal Communications Commission proposal to repeal a 1975 blackout rule that keeps National Football League games off local broadcast television stations unless game tickets are sold out. Brown has long sought to reform the policy, filing a 2012 letter with the FCC that said it harms fans to ban broadcasts of games that aren't sold out within 72 hours of kickoff, particularly when rising ticket prices "have made attending a football game an unaffordable luxury for many." The letter he filed with four other Democratic U.S. Senators noted that there were 16 blackouts during the 2011 NFL season, 23 in 2010 and 22 the year before. "These blackouts are ruining the experience of rooting for the home team and are unjustly hurting fans," said the letter from Brown, an Ohio Democrat. "That many of these stadiums were constructed or remodeled using taxpayer dollars underscores the disservice done to fans by blackouts." Last month, Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge and a dozen other Congressional Black Caucus members weighed in with their own FCC letter to back the rule. It said eliminating the rule might drive NFL games to paid networks, preventing fans from watching them on free, over-the-air television. The letter noted that during the 2013 season, 99 percent of NFL games were sold out and broadcast on free, local TV. "Without this rule in place, cable and satellite television providers would potentially be able to undermine contractual agreements between professional sports leagues and broadcast networks that both support attendance at games and improve the viewing experience for fans in the stadium, as well as those watching at home," wrote Fudge, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus. The National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and Office of the Commissioner of Baseball have filed their own FCC comments that argue to keep the blackout rule, and the NFL has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign on the issue. Former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann has submitted more than 10,500 letters from football fans around the country that urge the FCC to keep the blackout. "These letters reflect the strong and growing sentiment that the rule works and helps to keep NFL games widely available on free, over-the-air television," Swann wrote to the FCC. Rainbow Push Coalition Founder and President Jesse L. Jackson Sr., filed a letter that noted NFL stadiums in large urban areas tend to be placed in areas with high unemployment areas where stadiums boost local jobs and income. He argued that eliminating the rule could cause "disproportionate impact on the communities and residents that seek to work, and not simply watch an athletic event." Many Cleveland-area businesses also weighed in. Businessman Tony George of the George Group and Katy Sigler, manager of Tremont's Treehouse Bar, were among a group that filed identical letters last month that said the blackout rule helps Cleveland. The letter cited a study by Positively Cleveland which estimated every Browns home game generates $7.9 million for the local economy. "Nearly all (more than 99 percent) of last season's games were broadcast on free local television, and the NFL is actively working to see that fans have access to every game in 2014," their FCC letters said. "Fans in Cleveland shouldn't be forced to pay to watch games they already get for free." Cleveland Council Member Jeffrey D. Johnson filed a similar letter that referenced a 2013 survey that found minorities currently make up 41 percent of homes that don't subscribe to paid TV, up from 38 percent in 2010. "The blackout rule protects the taxpayers who fund the stadium, because it ensures the stadium is full, therefore bringing the maximum economic benefit to the area, which was promised to voters," wrote Johnson, who represents Ward 10. A group of local ministers, including Rev. Larry L. Macon, Jr., of Oakwood Village's Mt. Zion Church, Rev. Dr. David A. Cobb Jr, of Cleveland's Emmanuel Baptist Church, and Rev. Dr. Aaron L. Phillips of Cleveland's Sure House Baptist Church Ministries also filed letters to back the blackout rule. "Everyone wins when NFL stadiums are full, and games are free on TV," they wrote in separate but similarly worded FCC letters. Representatives of the Ohio Hotel & Lodging Association and the Ohio Restaurant Association also registered comments to support the NFL's stance. A letter from the restaurant group noted that the Winking Lizard's "downtown restaurant on a Sunday when the Browns are on the road is 200 mostly empty seats. When the Browns are at home, those 200 seats are filled three or four times." Other Ohio residents told the FCC the blackout rule should be eliminated. Daniel O'Brien of Cincinnati wrote that the NFL "is the only business I can think of that punishes its consumers (with blackouts) for not buying its preferred product (game tickets)." "As a taxpayer in Cincinnati, I find it particularly annoying that government backed blackout rules can prevent me from watching games in the stadium that I helped finance while the rest of the country is free to enjoy the action on their high definition TVs," said O'Brien. Dennis Brickner of Tiffin wrote that NFL owners should be obligated to allow over-the-air game broadcasts "in their immediate areas, regardless of the fan count in their respective stadiums on any given game day." "Never mind that there are literally millions of fans who could not even begin to sacrifice the money needed to visit a stadium on a game day without visiting duress upon their families," wrote Brickner. The FCC is still taking comments on the proposal and hasn't given a timetable for issuing its decision on the matter. Last year, its members voted unanimously to open the issue for public comment. Earlier this month, one of the five commissioners who leads the FCC, Ajit Pai, publicly called for a vote to repeal the rule. "After carefully reviewing the arguments, I don't believe the government should intervene in the marketplace and help sports leagues enforce their blackout policies," Pai told a Buffalo, NY, audience. "Our job is to serve the public interest, not the private interests of team owners." Pai said the blackouts could still occur, even without the FCC's blessing, but he feels the FCC shouldn't give them its official sanction. "The FCC shouldn't get involved in handing out special favors or picking winners and losers," he said. "And in my view, there is no reason for the FCC to be involved in the sports blackout business."