Blackouts. They have not been a problem for Cleveland Browns fans since returning to the league in 1999, but over the past few years, there have been a couple of weeks where fans had to wonder about it before someone else stepped in. It is an issue that teams like the Bengals and Raiders have had to deal with as they struggle to fill their stadiums on gameday. Thanks to a new resolution passed by NFL owners, though, it is possible that the number of blackouts will be reduced in the future:
Team owners have passed a resolution that starting this season will allow for local broadcasts of NFL games even when as few as 85% of tickets are sold. Under the new rule, each team has more flexibility to establish its own seat-sales benchmark as long as it is 85% or higher. To discourage teams from setting easy benchmarks, teams will be forced to share more of the revenue when they exceed it.
If anyone can explain the final sentence in the block quote above, please feel free to interpret it.