St. Louis Rams seek Thursday Night Football blackout deadline extension

The St. Louis Rams have asked for a 24-hour extension from the NFL to sell 1,500 tickets in order to avoid a local blackout of Thursday night's game, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The NFL changed its strict local blackout rules, now stating that teams need only to sell 85 percent capacity to lift the local blackout. In the past, teams needed a full sellout in order for home games to be televised locally.

The Rams have struggled with the rule in the past, and needed local businesses to buy up tickets in order to reach capacity in 2010 in order to avoid an actual blackout. A local game in St. Louis has not been blacked out since 2009.

The Rams face the 4-0 Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night, the first prime time game in St. Louis since 2007. Kickoff is set for 7:20 p.m. CT.