The millionaire black nationalist protests against America are really popular with social justice bloggers at the Washington Post who don't watch football.
They're less popular with Americans.
In metered market numbers, the primetime matchup that saw the Washington Redskins beat the Oakland Raiders 27-10 snared an 11.6/20, the worst SNF has performed this season so far. It’s an 8% dip from the early numbers of last week’s game, Atlanta’s 34-23 win over Green Bay. Amid cheers and boos from fans at FedEx Field in Maryland last night, the third week of the SNF season declined 10% from early numbers of the comparable game of last year on September 25, 2016...
NFL ratings are down double-digits this season so far after taking a similar tackle-for-loss last year...
In non-adjusted numbers, last night’s SNF delivered a 5.3/19 among adults 18-49 and 14.5 million viewers. In the 8:30-11 PM slot, that puts the Washington-Oakland game on the East Coast down 17% in the key demo from the Week 2 matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers.
Viewershipwise, last night’s game is currently taking a 21% hit from the fast affiliates of the September 17 game, which was down 14% from the Season opener of September 10.
None of which will induce an end zone dance for the net or the league in a season already seeing double-digit declines from the 2016-2017 season – itself down from the previous year.
So, surprisingly, your average football fan is a patriot.
Meanwhile the shameful behavior by racist players and the coaches and owners enabling them shows where they stand. And no amount of military ceremonial trimmings can cover up a hole that big.
So the NFL can either place all its bets on luring fans of Orange is the New Black to watch football. Or it can find out what happens when your entire fan base consists of people who like football and hate America.
That's going to be as narrow a demographic as the gay Communist gun club.
The NFL has a long history of enabling the bad behavior of its players. But this time, it's paying the price.