The NFL didn’t have much to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving. Not only have ratings been falling in recent years, not even the one day a year where families are together could save them. The Thanksgiving primetime clash between the Redskins and the Giants garnered ratings 10 percent lower than the year prior… and that was just on one network:
NFL Thanksgiving Day ratings compared to last year: pic.twitter.com/kynCfcC7Ap
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) November 29, 2017
That was to be expected by everyone except those dictating the NFL’s policy. While Colin Kaepernick’s “taking the knee” protest was wildly unpopular among fans last year, the League decided to permit it, and allow it again this season as it was re-directed into a protest of Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, the league is cracking down on Christmas-themed cleats and socks – but didn’t have a problem with any “dress code” violations when Kaepernick wore socks depicting police officers as pigs.
In just a period of less than 24 months, the NFL has gone from one of the most liked to the least liked sports league, and they have no one to blame but themselves.
Now, the end-of-year stats are in, and they ain’t pretty. According to the Wall Street Journal,
The average audience for a game was 14.9 million this season, down 9.7% compared with 16.5 million viewers for the 2016 regular season, according to Nielsen. That is a steeper decline than the 8% viewership erosion last year.
A variety of potential explanations have been cited for the ratings woes. Some viewers have said they were turned off after some players knelt during the national anthem to protest against social injustice. President Donald Trump has also criticized the protests.
Here comes the worst part: “The Thursday and Sunday NFL prime-time packages took the biggest hits in viewership. ‘Thursday Night Football,’ which is shared by CBS, NBC and the NFL Network, averaged 10.9 million viewers, a 12% drop from the previous season.”
Who could’ve seen this coming? Answer: anyone who bothered to notice how the fans felt about the League’s political posturing.
Share this news with others now – the NFL is failing!
