Blackouts are something that will NEVER ever be completely understood. They have never made any sense to me and they probably never will unless their policies change. And yes, it's not the provider that does the blackout, it's the sport itself. And replay blackouts are beyond insane and NO bit of trying to explain that to me will ever make me understand.
Idiotic 1950's mentality regading the protection of advertisers.
Tell ya what, with content becoming more readily available on the internet, traditonal tv had better get with it because as technology advances and people eschew traditonal methods to get their entertainment, the internet will become the place to go. And tv and radio will be buried in a sea of red ink as advertisers flock to the web for revenue.
The newspaper business is getting damaged by the first salvo. Just about every newspaper has a website where one can read the content free of charge. Thye have no choice but to provide it for free. People will not pay for it. They will simply go to another site for the news. Print editions are selling less and less. Of course there are those in the newspaper business that think their employers can simply slap a fee on the website access and people will cough up the bucks. Baloney.
In any event, sports blackouts will become passe in the not too distant future. My prediction.