Quote
waterfield
There is absolutely no evidence at all that the TV revenues are down. Television is what enriches the owners not attendance at games. Goodell was the one who negotiated those TV contracts that have made the owners even richer than before. They won't forget that. Put simply, viewership can continue to go down but the contracts are the contracts and are in place for some time. There are many reasons why the sport's popularity has not continued to increase and the anthem issue is not the bellwether. Here are just a few: Overpricing; billionaires thinking tax payers should build stadiums; quality of play; the NFL's treatment of retired players; fans being fleeced for pre-season games; proliferation of commercials; impaired lives due to multiple concussions and the realization that the sport can never be safe; youth is into other sports; etc, etc.

There is no evidence that the protests are the reason for the slight drop in TV viewing. Logic tells us that's mostly a matter of too many games, on too many days and nights; a rash of injuries to key stars; the concussion issue; fewer people watching regular TV all across the board; too many commercials and the rest you mentioned. Most people couldn't care less what others do when the anthem is played. IMO, no one should. It's none of their business.

As far as the anthem protests go and the issue of "politics": It amazes me that some people don't view forcing players to stand as "political". It obviously is. It's also highly authoritarian. And the anthem itself? Even though the players never talk about it, they have every right to. It was written by a slaveholder (FSK) who defended fellow slaveholders in court, seeking to recapture their "property," and the third stanza celebrates the death of slaves. It needs to go. Playing it before each game is itself highly "political," is the military pomp and ceremony.

And the Papa Johns' snowflake just kills me. He's trying to blame the players who have helped make him richer, instead of the obvious culprits of any reduction in his revenues, if they have in fact happened: the people (publicly) calling for boycotts of the NFL.

The answer to all of this, IMO: Stop playing the anthem before each game, and end the taxpayer-supported advertisements for the Pentagon. If people really want "politics" out of the NFL, that's the way to do it.