The NFL’s viewership declines
The National Football League is considered to be the highlight of any cable package. However, lately the NFL hasn’t been getting the viewership that it is used to. What is the cause of this decline? Many believe it’s because of the protests that have been going on in the NFL by the players and coaches. Others blame it on the president and his twitter account, but few blame the constant commercials throughout the broadcast. I believe that this decline in viewership is caused by all of the above, and then some. Though the NFL has experienced a viewership decline before, this one is more significant than any other decline in the league’s history. According to the Morning Consult Poll posted on Sept. 22, within a week the NFL’s viewership decreased by more than half: from 30 percent viewership to 17 percent. Should the league be worried?
The most common reason that many viewers point to is the national anthem protest. According to a poll that Rasmussen conducted on Oct. 2 and 3, out of 1,000 people surveyed, one-third of Americans stated that due to the Colin Kaepernick-led protest, they generally are less likely to watch the NFL Network. Some believe that the flag protest is disrespectful to our country, but is that really the case? Instigated by the 49ers’ quarterback, the national anthem protests were started to create awareness to the way black Americans have been treated in America.
Of course, whenever anything goes wrong we always blame the president. But is it truly his fault? President Trump is a big user of Twitter, and when he first started commenting on the protest, he tweeted that the protesting players be fired. This sparked other members of the league to create additional forms of protesting. Some of the creative new ways to protest that President Trump saw as appropriate were locking arms while standing and not even coming out for the anthem at all.
Commercials are a big part of football, but could they also be causing a drop in viewership? According to Sports Illustrated, the loyal fans of the NFL Network have stopped watching because of the tireless stream of aggravating commercials. Nowadays, many people have jumped on the bandwagon of fantasy football, which means they don’t care much for actually watching the game and instead check to see who scored every 15 minutes. The NFL has fallen in love with the fantasy football followers, mostly because they can earn more money selling commercial times. However, this may be a terrible mistake in terms of viewership. Because commercials started getting longer, the league’s loyal viewers no longer want to watch their favorite teams.
Now that we know the reasons for the viewership plummet, will the NFL prohibit players, coaches and staff from protesting? Will they be able to stop the president from tweeting the ratings down the drain? Or will they cut commercial lengths to boost more loyal viewership?
