Thursday, Dec 31, 2009 03:28 PM

Raiders' season finale blacked out locally

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders' season finale against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday will be blacked out locally because the team did not sell out the game in time.

This marks the seventh straight blackout this season since the Raiders sold out the season opener against San Diego. That's the most blackouts in a season for the Raiders since they had seven in 1997. Games need to be sold out 72 hours before kickoff to avoid a blackout in a 75-mile radius.

Oakland had sold out six of eight games each of the past three seasons after taking over ticket sales from Alameda County. In their first 11 seasons back from Los Angeles, the Raiders sold out only 25 of 88 regular-season games in time to avoid a blackout.