Author Topic: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests  (Read 7516 times)

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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2016, 04:20:18 PM »

Offline LooseCannon

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This was being discussed in another thread the other day where many doubted that the reason the NFL ratings were down was tied to the anthem. New ESPN story reports it is the biggest reason

It sounds like the poll doesn't say that it is the biggest reason, it says that some people think it is the biggest reason.  There are certainly people who want to believe it is true and will say yes if offered the option.  I think the number would be significantly lower if it was an open-ended question, but that is hard to poll.  I suspect that if the NFL tried to crack down on Kaepernick, the backlash would result in a boycott that would have ratings even lower, while leading to league sponsors being targeted, so it is probably in the NFL's financial interest to tolerate these protests.
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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2016, 04:21:58 PM »

Offline Evantime34

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I think it's ridiculous that people would not turn on a football game because someone isn't standing during the national anthem that comes on before the game. If that was your issue why wouldn't you just turn it on right when the game starts?

My opinion on the ratings decline is that people are protesting how poorly the NFL is being run and the stupid rules that make the game less fun.

This kind of reminds me of the deflategate issue, because ESPN is once again being the mouthpiece of the NFL.

Mark my words this ratings decline will continue until the NFL finds a new commissioner.
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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2016, 04:23:20 PM »

Online Roy H.

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 While I am skeptical that this is the reason for the decline in ratings, I am surprised that the league allowed the protest in the first place. The league is so hyper-involved  with every aspect of presentation of its products, down to the cleats of the players. Why on earth would they allow players in uniform to take a political stance immediately before the games?


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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #18 on: October 27, 2016, 04:26:52 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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I know its one game but are people not going to watch Jaguars/Titans tonight because of protests?

Or is it because of oversaturation & decline in play?

I really think this poll is off.  Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think the protests are the biggest issue with the NFL & its ratings right now.   Maybe my head is in the sand here, I don't know.

I think Cuban was onto something with the "pigs get fed, hogs gets slaughtered" line from a couple of years ago.

Ill throw this out there. Here is the data on the #boycottnfl that has been used for the last 7 weeks.

1 billion estimated impressions from 323,019 Twitter mentions
(the software I am assuming is rounding up or down slightly to a billion, for even our biggest
campaigns at a national company we never approach that and it is given in millions like 13.7 million)

If people want to pretend this isn't a thing with that kind of data I guess it is just burying a head in the sand, no offense.

I agree it is crazy and hard to believe, but really just seems to be the case.

Do we know for sure that everyone using #boycottnfl is using that hashtag solely for reasons related to protests or also other factors such as violence, an abhorrent record on domestic violence, decline in quality in play, headscratching league office decisions, etc....?

While I am sure there are a decent amount of exceptions, the overwhelming amount of the tweets about this are related to the protests. If this makes it easier here are a handful of samples
Note the first is a former congressmen with a pretty significant following.

Note this isn't cherry picking these were just the top ones that came up in the last few hours


https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/791326697060564992
https://twitter.com/BeachDreamin291/status/791653815862829056
https://twitter.com/trumpology/status/791704093655830528
https://twitter.com/CatRN4U/status/791691651244711937
https://twitter.com/EDinCali/status/791629538132238337
https://twitter.com/LibertyUSA1776/status/790948809513705472

Again for the record I am a pretty liberal person that lives in California. I don't really have a dog in this race, and if I did I would be pro them doing whatever they want. However, when people are willfully choosing to ignore data and a pretty big movement it is interesting to me.

Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2016, 04:30:23 PM »

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While I am skeptical that this is the reason for the decline in ratings, I am surprised that the league allowed the protest in the first place. The league is so hyper-involved  with every aspect of presentation of its products, down to the cleats of the players. Why on earth would they allow players in uniform to take a political stance immediately before the games?

PR driven. All optics.

If you have league officials confronting a player on the sidelines over something like this  caught on camera (I understand the anthem often isn't show live but I guarantee cameras are still going), the backlash to the league would be pretty bad.   Trying to stop it would look worse than how some see the act of protest itself.  Then if you attempt to fine the guy (I'm not sure how this would be covered by the CBA), the union gets involved and that relationship is already a disaster based on several recent incidents. 

More than any other league in this country, the NFL is obsessed with how they are perceived by the public.


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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2016, 04:38:07 PM »

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I know its one game but are people not going to watch Jaguars/Titans tonight because of protests?

Or is it because of oversaturation & decline in play?

I really think this poll is off.  Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think the protests are the biggest issue with the NFL & its ratings right now.   Maybe my head is in the sand here, I don't know.

I think Cuban was onto something with the "pigs get fed, hogs gets slaughtered" line from a couple of years ago.

Ill throw this out there. Here is the data on the #boycottnfl that has been used for the last 7 weeks.

1 billion estimated impressions from 323,019 Twitter mentions
(the software I am assuming is rounding up or down slightly to a billion, for even our biggest
campaigns at a national company we never approach that and it is given in millions like 13.7 million)

If people want to pretend this isn't a thing with that kind of data I guess it is just burying a head in the sand, no offense.

I agree it is crazy and hard to believe, but really just seems to be the case.

Do we know for sure that everyone using #boycottnfl is using that hashtag solely for reasons related to protests or also other factors such as violence, an abhorrent record on domestic violence, decline in quality in play, headscratching league office decisions, etc....?

While I am sure there are a decent amount of exceptions, the overwhelming amount of the tweets about this are related to the protests. If this makes it easier here are a handful of samples
Note the first is a former congressmen with a pretty significant following.

Note this isn't cherry picking these were just the top ones that came up in the last few hours


https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/791326697060564992
https://twitter.com/BeachDreamin291/status/791653815862829056
https://twitter.com/trumpology/status/791704093655830528
https://twitter.com/CatRN4U/status/791691651244711937
https://twitter.com/EDinCali/status/791629538132238337
https://twitter.com/LibertyUSA1776/status/790948809513705472

Again for the record I am a pretty liberal person that lives in California. I don't really have a dog in this race, and if I did I would be pro them doing whatever they want. However, when people are willfully choosing to ignore data and a pretty big movement it is interesting to me.

Not ignoring it.  Questioning.  As other in the thread have mentioned, there are plenty of questions about the data itself.    I think Saltlover making the best point of the bunch.

And to be clear, I'm sure it's impacted some peoples' viewing habits of the NFL, I'm just not buying into the protests being the biggest factor.


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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #21 on: October 27, 2016, 04:47:25 PM »

Offline Fan from VT

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Yeah I'm skeptical. I would bet that the poll is measuring "hey people who still watch the NFL, why are other people not watching as much?" And the people who still care about the NFL are like "Its the protests!"

I'd be more interested in asking "hey people who used to watch but now don't pay attention, why did you turn the TV off?" I think the people who genuinely watched a lot of games and then suddenly turned them off because someone kneeled in a part of the pre-game part that no one really watches anyway is very small.

I'd be willing to bet it has a lot more to do with:
- Continued fractionation of all media consumption
- Dilution/saturation (I'm busy, can I really watch THurs, Sun x 3-4, Mon?)
- Non-protest social - Am I (or my kids) supposed to idolize Josh Brown, Ray Rice, Vick, Roethlisberger, Ray Lewis, etc?
- Concussions; hard to rationalize watching people do something I wouldn't let my kids do
- Big names suspended for wrong and arbitrary reasons (Brady, obvs)
- Worse teams. Maybe its shorter preseason. Maybe more practice restrictions. I tend to think it is a direct consequence of the entire goal of the CBA. The league wanted parity, it is getting it. It makes it harder to keep that veteran piece; not necessarily the big time WR, but that 4th Guard, that blocking TE, that sub-package DE, etc. And you have to replace that with more CBA-friendly young, athletic, but inexperienced, don't-know-the-system as well guys. This makes sloppier play, and brings elite teams more toward the middle each year. It's what the league wanted, apparently, but for TV ratings probably not good. It's actually better for national TV ratings to have Packer, Cowboys, Giants, Seahawks, Steelers, Bengals, Colts, Pats beating up on everyone else, then basically binging on the sunday afternoon channel surfing games then being able to see some combination of the above teams on Sunday night and Monday night. But now we water down even those teams, add a Thurs and a Sunday Morning game...too much mediocrity on a national scale.

Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #22 on: October 27, 2016, 04:53:53 PM »

Offline max215

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The NFL has one main problem: its product is garbage. The poor quality of teams/play this year has been absolutely striking. I've always considered myself a big football fan--I'm plastered to the couch from 1-7 every Sunday--but this year I've started to watch less and less. I've stopped watching primetime games all together and tend to shy away from all non-Pats games. The Patriots are great, but who else is even adequate? Minnesota? Atlanta? Seattle? Pittsburgh? All of those teams are fairly meh...and they're the best of the best.

The NFL is an utterly detestable organization, its product is poor, and less and less talent is infused into the sport of football every day. Meanwhile, the NBA is in a golden age. Everyone's getting rich, the quality of play is fantastic, the league is expanding worldwide, the commissioner is universally loved, and the owners and players are getting along swimmingly. The NBA also does the little things, like encouraging the sharing of the sport through highlights and short clips, while the NFL won't even allow its teams to post footage of their own games. NBA ratings are at an all-time high, NFL at historic lows. At this rate, there might be a changing of the guard on the horizon; the NBA could establish itself as America's marquee league.
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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #23 on: October 27, 2016, 04:55:35 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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More than any other league in this country, the NFL is obsessed with how they are perceived by the public.

While I"m sure this is true, it's ironic, considering how woefully incompetent they appear to be in managing their public image.
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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #24 on: October 27, 2016, 04:57:50 PM »

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More than any other league in this country, the NFL is obsessed with how they are perceived by the public.

While I"m sure this is true, it's ironic, considering how woefully incompetent they appear to be in managing their public image.

Oh, its ridiculously ironic. 


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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #25 on: October 27, 2016, 05:08:23 PM »

Offline Billz401

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I wouldn't be surprised if it is addressed in the offseason either league wide or in house with every team like jerry Jones did. While I absolutely agree there is social injustice going on in this country that needs to be addressed, kaep and others are going at it the wrong way. The national anthem before games isn't to reinforce that America is great and perfect and nothing is wrong in the country, it's to honor the military. The announcers literally say "please rise for the singing of the national anthem to honor the fallen, former, and current military", last I checked there wasn't social injustice in any branch of the military. So to me that's the most disrespectful thing you could do, especially when there are soldiers 10 feet in front of you holding the flag. And then kaep says "no disrespect to the military.." but does one of the most disrespectful things you could do.

Again, I am absolutely for change in our governments and police forces because there is obviously something wrong, but go at this in a productive way. You have millions of followers on social media and literally have 15 cameras and microphones in your face after each game and practice but you choose to kneel during the anthem to get your word out, I just don't get it.. I haven't seen or heard of him doing anything else outside of kneeling and wearing anti police clothing to help further his cause. And why would you agree to sing the national anthem just to protest it? That would be like a vegan going to a rib house, eating 3/4 a rack of ribs, and then throwing it on the ground and opening up their blazer to reveal a PETA shirt. Don't make no sense..
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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #26 on: October 27, 2016, 05:09:08 PM »

Offline kraidstar

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This was being discussed in another thread the other day where many doubted that the reason the NFL ratings were down was tied to the anthem. New ESPN story reports it is the biggest reason

It sounds like the poll doesn't say that it is the biggest reason, it says that some people think it is the biggest reason.  There are certainly people who want to believe it is true and will say yes if offered the option.  I think the number would be significantly lower if it was an open-ended question, but that is hard to poll.  I suspect that if the NFL tried to crack down on Kaepernick, the backlash would result in a boycott that would have ratings even lower, while leading to league sponsors being targeted, so it is probably in the NFL's financial interest to tolerate these protests.

Bingo.

Personally I've been watching the league less this year because the product is garbage. Too many horrible primetime games, and an overall lack of good teams and good QB play.

Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #27 on: October 27, 2016, 05:18:33 PM »

Offline Billz401

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Also for me personally, it hasn't effected my love of the NFL one bit. I still watch every pats game and any game that I can watch. Heck I even wake up for the 930am London games and watch all the way thru til the end of SNF after 11pm. Even though I'm not in favor of the protests, it hasn't stopped me one bit. As some have mentioned they barely ever show the national anthem anyways except now to show who kneels and who doesn't. Maybe there are others who take it even more serious as to stop watching all together because of it but I think the majority of the reason viewing rates are low is a culmination of everything going on. From the incompetent commish, to the disturbing domestic abuse scandals every month, all the way to the new rules dulling down the game. I mean they call it the No Fun League for a reason lol.
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Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #28 on: October 27, 2016, 05:20:31 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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The NFL has one main problem: its product is garbage. The poor quality of teams/play this year has been absolutely striking. I've always considered myself a big football fan--I'm plastered to the couch from 1-7 every Sunday--but this year I've started to watch less and less. I've stopped watching primetime games all together and tend to shy away from all non-Pats games. The Patriots are great, but who else is even adequate? Minnesota? Atlanta? Seattle? Pittsburgh? All of those teams are fairly meh...and they're the best of the best.

The NFL is an utterly detestable organization, its product is poor, and less and less talent is infused into the sport of football every day. Meanwhile, the NBA is in a golden age. Everyone's getting rich, the quality of play is fantastic, the league is expanding worldwide, the commissioner is universally loved, and the owners and players are getting along swimmingly. The NBA also does the little things, like encouraging the sharing of the sport through highlights and short clips, while the NFL won't even allow its teams to post footage of their own games. NBA ratings are at an all-time high, NFL at historic lows. At this rate, there might be a changing of the guard on the horizon; the NBA could establish itself as America's marquee league.

There is one double barreled reasoning why the NFL will probably remain number 1. Most people that engage in sports wagering consider it the most fun and easiest to bet on. It sets itself up for this by being predominantly played on a day where the majority of people are not working and having a manageable length of season. So it sets up as something fun for people to do a few months of the year. This may also surprise people but more people feel NBA games are rigged than they do NFL games. While people get extremely upset with the inconsistencies regarding catches and pass interference they are chalked up to unpredictable random incompetence. Whereas in the NBA generally feel (fueled in no small part of Donagy's claims) that the Refs control the games and have incentive to let certain players and teams do better at unpredictable times. EG if you think the Raptors are actually a better team at home than the Cavs but you know the Refs may have a night they parade Lebron to the lines it is less fun to bet on.

For many of these reasons (particularly the shorter seasons) fantasy is also more popular in the NFL by many many miles. Nobody can really commit to nights every game for 6 months.

Re: New Poll: NFL decline in ratings attributed to protests
« Reply #29 on: November 01, 2016, 05:43:37 PM »

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Saw these two articles linked off of Awful Announcing today.  Pretty relevant to this discussion from last week.

http://adage.com/article/print-edition/nfl-ratings-slump-anthem-protests/306533/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social

Quote
Applying Occam's razor and picking the simplest explanation for the NFL's ratings slide—i.e., the games aren't worth watching, and the refs are only making it worse—admittedly leaves out a host of other quantifiable contributing factors. There's the 80% traffic declines at DraftKings and FanDuel sites, for example, suggesting that the daily fantasy football craze is on the wane. And then there's the surreal election cycle, seeing cable news networks take share from the NFL windows.
But at least one working theory deserves to be cut from the 53-man roster for lack of supporting evidence.

Citing a single landline poll by the right-leaning Rasmussen Reports, news outlets this month have been falling all over themselves to assign blame to 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protests. Yet the key findings aren't supported by the Nielsen data.

While twice as many white respondents told Rasmussen that they were less likely to watch the NFL this season in light of the anthem protests, white viewership is down 12% year-over-year, versus a 14% decline among black viewers. Rasmussen also concluded that "the more one earns, the more likely they are to say they may be shutting off NFL games." In reality, NFL viewership among viewers from households with annual income of more than $75,000 is down 14%, while those below that salary divide have trimmed their football intake by 19%.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/the-nfl-is-becoming-more-disturbing-than-appealing-and-tv-viewers-are-tuning-out/2016/10/31/71466610-9f95-11e6-a44d-cc2898cfab06_story.html?tid=pm_pop_b

Quote
Perhaps the most knowledgeable and acute observer of the NFL is Oriard, a former player for the Kansas City Chiefs turned author whose highly regarded cultural history of the league, “Brand NFL,” is essential reading. Oriard observed, “The job is to market the game, without letting marketing get in the way of the game.” The league has let marketing get in the way of the game, and one expression of that is coming from the officials.

The NFL’s overemphasis on “brand” and “shield” has meant increasingly petty attention to discipline and uniformity, which is sucking away dynamism and rendering it joyless. The league is picking apart its own product with stoppages, until it’s hard for the viewer to separate the major from the minor offense: According to NFLpenalties.com, officials have thrown 1,996 yellow flags, every one of which means a halt. An analyst at The Big Lead ran a database check of profootballreference.com and discovered that offensive holding penalties have increased by fully 43 percent since 2011, and defensive pass interference is up by 45 percent over the same period. Now throw in the new emphasis on curbing celebrations with unsportsmanlike conduct flags. No wonder there are so many cutaways to commercials or to suits in the owner’s box.

“The rhythms and pace of the game are changed,” Oriard said. “There’s a lot less dramatic excitement — and you can’t overstate how much I don’t care if Jerry Jones is enjoying the game.”


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