The seating capacity at the Edward Jones Dome is 67,256, but the Rams' magic number is really 57,211.

That's how many tickets the team has to sell for a game to be classified as a sellout by the NFL and avoid being blacked out on local television.

This week, the team received a 24-hour extension from the league to "sell out" for the fourth time in four home games this year despite a 1-7 record.

But the league's formula for determining a sellout, plus a bank of 17,000 tickets that teams can give away during the season, means not every seat has to be sold to count as a full house and be televised.

What constitutes a sellout in the NFL varies from team to team, based mainly on stadium capacity and seating arrangements. That's how the 57,211 number for the Rams is derived. Here's how it works:

— Capacity at the dome is 67,256.

— "Premium seats" — club seats and suites — don't count in the sellout equation. The Rams have 6,773 club seats and 2,746 suite seats, a total of 9,519.

— Home teams must provide 526 tickets to the visiting club. Often some of those are returned, but they do not have to be sold as part of the sellout requirements.

— So, subtract 9,519 and 526 from 67,256 and you arrive at 57,211 — the minimum number of tickets that must be sold to reach sellout status.

But that number can be even lower.

Each NFL team is permitted to give away 17,000 tickets over the course of the season and count them toward sellouts.

This week, the Rams dipped into that 17,000 reserve for the first time this season as the team donated tickets to the military as part of the team's annual "Salute to Veterans" promotion. The team also bought an additional 1,400 tickets to donate, a Rams source said.

The issue of sellouts and blackouts in the NFL is being more scrutinized this season. At the halfway point of the season, nine games leaguewide have not been sold out, the same number for all of last season. Jacksonville, for example, has yet to sell out and is averaging just 45,792 in a 67,164-seat stadium.

To give teams more flexibility, the league has adjusted how the 17,000 giveaway tickets can be used. Previously, those tickets had to be divided evenly — 2,125 per game — but now can be adjusted.

Despite their 1-7 record and league-low scoring total (77 points), the Rams are batting 1.000 this year: All four home games have sold out. A heavy influx of out-of-town fans, particularly for the Green Bay and Indianapolis games, has helped appreciably.

The Rams are averaging 60,169 in their first three home games, up from last season's 59,980. After this week, the team has four more home games —Arizona, Seattle, Houston and San Francisco. Kevin Demoff, the Rams' chief executive officer, said, "We'd like to sell out all … although that will be a difficult challenge."

Before the season, the team introduced several new ticket options that have helped stimulate sales, according to Bob Reif, executive vice president/marketing and sales.

That was partly in response to a hefty drop in season ticket sales, a trend in many places throughout the league during a difficult economy. The Rams wouldn't disclose how many season tickets were sold or exactly what the decline was. "I'd say it was significant," Reif acknowledged.

Season ticket sales are down about 15 percent leaguewide.

The Rams took a number of steps toward enhancing the game-day product, including $30 million in lease-required renovations to the dome.

"For years, we were told that aside from the team's record, what people cared about was the in-game experience and how people felt when they went to the games, win or lose," Demoff said. "We've tried to upgrade that significantly so that win or lose, people will go home saying they had a great time at the Rams game."

The most effective way to fill seats is tried and true: Just win, baby.

But it's not the only way, Demoff stressed.

"It's easy to say winning solves everything," he said. "Our goal is to make sure winning doesn't solve everything, that we solve everything in advance of winning and that when the winning comes, there's such a demand for tickets that it builds the fan base we need for years to come to sustain us."