The NFL is in serious trouble.
The anti-American anthem protests have turned off fans who don’t want to be preached at while they enjoy football in their leisure time.
And the latest news in the NFL has the league terribly panicked.
The television ratings for the league are in a free fall. Games with significant playoff implications are getting abysmal numbers.
From Breitbart:
The Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles met on the gridiron last night, but turned in the lowest Week 16 ratings for Monday Night Football since 2012.
With their win against the Raiders 19-10 at Philly’s Lincoln Financial Field on Christmas Day, the Eagles clinched the NFC’s No. 1 seed earning themselves a spot in the playoffs coming on either Jan. 13 or 14.
But the big win apparently didn’t do anything for the TV ratings:
Sports Media Watch on Twitter
Steelers-Texans +27% on NBC/NFLN (last year was NFLN alone) — Raiders-Eagles lowest Week 16 MNF overnight since 2012 — Cowboys post lowest overnight on FOX “Game of the Week” at least a decade — SNF ties 6-year low (huge caveat: Saturday night game) https://t.co/EhjcznscQ4
Monday’s Raiders-Eagles bout earned a paltry 6.7, which is down 40% from last year’s Christmas night game. NBC’s Chiefs-Broncos hit a 11.2 in 2016. The Week 16 game was also off compared to last year’s Week 16 broadcast of MNF. The Raiders-Eagles game was down 37% over the Lions-Cowboys game last year (10.7).
The Monday Night Football rating is the lowest Week 16 broadcast since Falcons-Lions on a Saturday night in 2012, which earned a 6.6.
The awful rating for the Dec. 24 Fox “Game of the Week” between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks was also pitiful, drawing the worst rating in nearly a decade.
According to Sports Media Watch the Fox game was a low point:
The 13.5 is the lowest for a Cowboys game in the late doubleheader window this season (5 telecasts). It is also the lowest for Dallas on the FOX “Game of the Week” in at least a decade. Keep in mind Dallas has put up lower numbers in the window on CBS, including a 13.1 against Cincinnati last year.
The dismal rating came despite the fact that the Cowboys were playing with Ezekiel Elliott back in the lineup, and a potential playoff berth on the line.
Finally, Saturday’s game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers tanked as well, hitting a six-year low mark.
The Saturday night game brought in a 9.0 rating which is down 20 percent over the 11.2 earned by the Chief-Broncos game last year. But, even worse, it is down 22 percent from the 11.5 brought in by the Vikings-Giants game in 2015.
Last year, the league had the excuse of an engrossing presidential election to distract people, but 2016 is over.
Donald Trump is President, and fans are still tuning out.
Until the league makes a serious effort to regain the trust of lost fans, the downward spiral will only worsen.