Several drinking establishments intercepted St Louis Cardinal football games within the "blacked out" area. U.S Code Title 15, Chapter 32 outlines the telecasting of professional sports contests; Section 1291 prohibits the broadcasting of a game in the home territory (within 75 miles of the home stadium)if the game is not sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff. This section was created to encourage fans to buy tickets instead of just enjoying a free broadcast at home.

The businesses in question used satellites to receive games in the St Louis area which clearly Section 1291. The NFL sued and won against most of the alleged infringers on the basis of the Homestyle Act. The satellites were deemed not to be commonly found in private homes and the bars were prohibited from continuing this practice. Oddly enough, one bar was not found liable because he had closed the bar and just invited a handful of friends to watch the game; this was ruled a "reasonable circle of social acquaintances".

As stated above, Section 1291 is in place to ensure fans attend home games. When a bar steals the signal of a blacked out game and broadcasts it to attract customers (and thus increase business), they are denying the copyright holders, the NFL, their entitled compensation. The actions of these proprietors rob the NFL of ticket revenue, so Section 1291 was created. The FMLA prevents gatherings at bars large enough to lower the Nielsen ratings and deprive the NFL of advertising revenue. It is reasonable that fans of the Eagles should go to Eagles games; they can not all be free riders. However, fans of all teams watch the Super Bowl and it is a trend that they watch it in large gatherings; it is unreasonable to maintain a policy that supports a flawed ratings system while denying consumers their right to be social.

This statement would eventually help expand the homestyle exemption from the 1976 Copyright Act. Prior to the FMLA, businesses were limited to a "single receiving apparatus of a kind commonly used in private homes". This allows commercial establishments to create a more enjoyable atmosphere, within reason of course. Proprietors would be found liable if they used equipment that was more likely to be found in a movie theatre, stadium, or other commercial establishment. In addition to the expansion of number of audiovisual devices, cable and satellite transmissions would now be exempt from infringement. This is significant because it would have exonerated the establishments in NFL v McBee & Bruno's et al; everything except for intercepting the signal of a Cardinals game in the "blacked out" area.

Many sports bars now appeal to a variety of football fans because they will purchase satellite television packages such as NFL Sunday Ticket. Some bars will have a TV for every NFL game; allowing even a Detroit Lions fan to enjoy a game in Philadelphia. There is still however, a limit on the size of the screen. Sports are different than anything else on the airwaves; it is no coincidence sales of big screen and high definition televisions spike just prior to the Super Bowl. Therefore it is difficult to lump in sports with music, and the law should reflect these differences. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 recognized professional sports has having a unique business structure and exempted them from one of the most important acts in American history: the Sherman Act. If sports can be exempted from the Sherman Act, there should be a law that exempts them from the FMLA.