NFL and ESPN are seeing their ratings tank – but is their bizarre embrace of leftist politics to blame?
Some liberal pundits say “no.” Sure there’s been a decline, they say, but politics isn’t to blame, so much as the rise of alternative media. Apparently, we’re supposed to believe that football fans are being lured away by Netflix and Amazon Prime. “Yes, the NFL’s TV ratings are down, but so is the rest of network television,” read one headline over at CNN. In the piece, the author argues that through week 7, the NFL’s ratings were down “only” 5 percent, while the four major networks have seen an average 8 percent decrease in their prime time viewing. “NBC is down 4%, CBS is down 6%, ABC is down 11%.”
By the way, the NFL ended up seeing a 10-percent year end drop in viewers, eclipsing most of the declines our friend at CNN cited.
Granted, it would be dishonest to attribute all the decline in the NFL’s ratings to their leftward turn, but we know for a fact that it has contributed to their ratings decline. Put in the simpler terms: the League’s ratings would’ve fallen anyway, but not by as much. It’s no coincidence that within the period of only two short years, the NFL went from being among the most favorably viewed sports leagues, to the least favorably viewed league.
How do we know this? Because the NFL fans who’ve tuned out have told us their reasons for doing so, and it’s not because they’re ditching television altogether. According to the Daily Wire,
A new survey found 33% of NFL fans have totally boycotted the league this year, according to a poll by SurveyMonkey and Ozy Media, shared first with Yahoo Finance. But not all are incensed about the protest, started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. And nearly a third said they did so “in support of Donald Trump.”
The survey then asked the football fans: “Did you purposely stop watching or attending NFL games this season for any reason?” 33% of respondents said yes.
That group, which the survey labeled as “boycotting,” was asked why, and was given multiple options. Note: Respondents were allowed to select multiple answers; they were not asked which was the biggest factor, just which factors contributed.
They answered as follows:
- 32% said they stopped watching or attending NFL games “in support of Donald Trump”
- 22% said “in solidarity with players kneeling”; 13% said “no interest in the teams playing”
- 12% said “in support of Colin Kaepernick
- 11% said “news about traumatic brain injuries among players.” Another 8% said “games are boring.” 46% chose “some other reason.”
Lesson? Don’t alienate your audience.
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