NFL Now the Least Liked Professional Sports League

nfl favorability ratings

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

The executives of the NFL have continued to prove they don’t know their audience over the past year and a half. Even as someone who knows little about sports, it’s quite obvious that nobody is tuning into the game to get their political fix. Sports are supposed to be an escape from politics.

The downfall of the NFL’s popularity began with Colin Kaepernick’s protest, in which he took a knee during the National Anthem because he didn’t want to “honor that flag of a nation that oppresses people of color.” It’s an undeniably anti-American statement, and giving how he has no problem wearing attire bearing the image of communist dictators like Fidel Castro, it’s clear he doesn’t understand the first thing about liberalism or history. Kaepernick was booed even on his home turf in loony-lefty San Francisco – and you can infer from that incident that his silent protest was only more unpopular elsewhere.

Polls at the time showed that over 70 percent of NFL fans found the protest unpatriotic – and that figure has stayed the same this season, as players are now taking the knee in defiance of President Trump.

And as ratings began to fall, CNN was caught equivocating on the issue, unwilling to admit that Trump has had any effect on the League’s viewership. We couldn’t help but chuckle at the two contradictory headlines, a mere six days apart, from the same author:

It’s no surprise that ratings are down, because the League and players have truly alienated their base, and the numbers prove it.

According to the Washington Examiner, “Over just one month of player, coach, and owner protests of the flag and National Anthem, the National Football League has gone from America’s sport to the least liked of top professional and college sports, according to a new poll. From the end of August to the end of September, the favorable ratings for the NFL have dropped from 57 percent to 44 percent, and it has the highest unfavorable rating – 40 percent – of any big sport, according to a Winston Group survey.”

Here are the stats from August to September, by sport:

August Winston Poll

  • MLB/61 percent favorable to 13 percent unfavorable.
  • NFL/57 percent favorable to 23 percent unfavorable.
  • College football/53 percent favorable to 16 percent unfavorable.
  • College basketball/48 percent favorable to 17 percent unfavorable.
  • NBA/47 percent favorable to 23 percent unfavorable.

September Winston Poll

  • MLB/63 percent favorable to 16 percent unfavorable.
  • College football/51 percent favorable to 21 percent unfavorable.
  • NBA/46 percent favorable to 28 percent unfavorable.
  • College basketball/45 percent favorable to 25 percent unfavorable.
  • NFL/44 percent favorable to 40 percent unfavorable.

Well, things could be worse, I suppose.

But now that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is urging players to stand for the Anthem, we may finally see a change in how people view the NFL.

Share this story if you think the NFL messed up big time by allowing the National Anthem protests!

By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt

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