NFL RATINGS KEEP FALLING — WHY?

In a leaked internal memo, the NFL blames much of the ratings hit on the presidential race, different matchups, and points to the historic ratings highs of recent years. Moreover, it claims that its own “data” shows that player protests are not a factor, that fans aren’t tuning out because the league is relaxing its notorious restrictions on player self-expression so long as those players are social justice warriors.

While it’s difficult to explain the behavior of millions of people by reference to any single cause, I’m dubious of the NFL’s attempt to rule out player protests as offering any explanation for the ratings drop. The NFL isn’t the NBA. Its fan base isn’t as clustered in progressive urban centers but is far more equitably distributed across the country. Thus, it plays a doubly dangerous game by embracing the social justice left. It stands to alienate more fans than it attracts, and it’s in bed with a cultural force that ultimately despises the league itself. Social justice warriors hope to destroy football. They don’t want what’s best for the league or the sport. Instead, they want to use it until they kill it.

Some of us would argue they already have.

Related: Singer Takes Knee While Performing National Anthem at Sacramento Kings NBA Game. “Bay Area performer Leah Tysse…said that her act was a protest against police treatment toward African Americans.”