The headlines read: “NFL Ratings Are Down Because the Product is Bad”, then you have “NFL Ratings Fall 13% As Irma Slams Into Florida” and of course you see, “NFL Ratings Slump, Again”. Meanwhile, any person participating in their own version of the Colin Kaepernick protest believes that we have played an intricate part in this ratings slump kerfuffle.

21.8 million NFL fans tuned in for the kickoff of 2017 regular season football. This is a 13% decline from 2016’s opening last year for the NFL and NBC. Not only is this disappointing, but this represents the worst opening game the league has seen since 2009. This season marks the first time in five years that the NFL has an audience that fell below 25 million viewers.

Based on ratings this past Thursday and Sunday night, views are down double-digits. But, the strange thing is so many outlets, in both television, online and print are giving readers a varying amount of reasons as to why this slump is happening, and many of them are not mentioning Colin Kaepernick.

The big black elephant in the room is what many of these reporters don’t want to mention. Could it be that we are seeing such a decline in ratings due to many Americans around the country who are taking a stand and refusing to watch any NFL games in solidarity with our brother Colin Kaepernick? These are not just black Americans – people of all colors are joining in and taking a stand against what we know to be the black-balling of a black player who took a stand (or a knee) against the establishment.

Granted, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, did play a major part in ratings. Both storms slammed into our coasts on two consecutive Sundays, causing people to tune into local weather, news, or the weather channel. Meanwhile, some analysts suspect that the games are simply not exciting enough to get fans to tune in. With so many factors, we still hang our hope on the fact that widespread Kaepernick protest will continue to affect Nielsen ratings. In many instances, some can even see a lack of posts and tweets on social media – people are becoming disinterested, disappointed and fed up with the NFL.

The hope is that people’s frustration with the organization are grabbing the attention of league owners. hopes that this will grab the attention of the league. You hear many say that protesting won’t make a difference – but hell, continuing to support the league in light of their obvious racist behavior, most definitely will not make a difference.

In the meantime cable news and weather have almost tripled in viewership. Why do we care? Why is this important? Why is this the right time to continue to protest? They are called ADVERTISERS. This is how the NFL makes billions per year, along with ticket sales and merchandise. Last year, the NFL drew approximately $4.2 billion in regular season football ad sales alone. Advertisers go where the viewers go, and advertisers leave when the viewers leave – get it.

Investors, advertisers, and analysts are keeping a close eye on these slumping numbers. This week is especially important because everyone will pay close attention since analysts are blaming the slump on hurricane coverage over the past few weeks. Will a week without a major weather threat cause viewers to watch more football this week? Viewers and viewership are important to the NFL, and there was a prediction that in 2017 ratings would rebound after a 9% drop last year. However, after two disappointing weeks for the league, they are not off to a great start.

To those of us participating in our own personal versions of an NFL protest – continue to stand strong (insert raised fist here). The unjust treatment of a player, who simply practiced his own version of a peaceful protest, will not be forgotten.

Syllabus Magazine

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