NFL Approval Ratings Plummet
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Player protests at the NFL continue to hammer the league.
TV ratings are down, pictures of empty seats at stadiums are circulating on social media and a Fox News poll just reported a huge drop in public approval ratings.
According to Fox News, the NFL’s favorability fell 18 points.
Fox News reports:
The National Football League is taking some hits these days. A new Fox News Poll finds that since 2013, the league’s favorable rating has dropped 18 points.
Today, 46 percent of voters have a positive view of the N.F.L. while 41 percent view it negatively. Four years ago (the last time the question was asked), 64 percent had a positive view of the league and 19 percent were critical.
The Sporting News wrote about the fall in TV ratings:
Yes, definitely, yes, some Americans are not tuning in to NFL games because of the players’ protests during the national anthem.
That’s one contributing factor to the league’s TV viewership audience being down substantially this season.
The cold, hard facts:
NFL games averaged 15.1 million viewers through Week 7, according to Nielsen data obtained by Sporting News. That’s down 5.1 percent from 15.87 million viewers during the same period last season and off 18.7 percent from 18.35 million viewers during the same period in 2015.
The NFL is going to try to address the player protest problem by meeting with unsigned quarterback Colin Kaepernick as part of its effort to address social justice issues.
The New York Post reports:
The next meeting between NFL representatives and the players to talk about social justice issues reportedly will include Colin Kaepernick.
The former 49ers quarterback, who is controversially unemployed and has filed a grievance accusing NFL owners of collusion, will be at the second meeting dedicated to discussing issues like racial inequality and how the league can help, Yahoo reported Thursday. ESPN had reported Kaepernick would be invited, and the meeting was slated for Tuesday in New York.
Meeting with Kaepernick will only compound the NFL’s problem by alienating more fans.