GET WOKE, GO BROKE:

The polarization is almost entirely the result of the fact that the NFL let players play politics on the field all season long with their National Anthem protests.

This, in turn, helps explain why NFL ratings took a nose-dive in 2017. NBC’s viewership, for example, was the lowest it’s been since 2008. In-game ad revenue dropped 1.2%, and attendance fell 3% to the lowest level since 2011.

Baseball, in contrast, appeals almost evenly to Democrats and Republicans, avoided political intrigue, and gets virtually identical (and very positive) promoter scores — with just a 4-point difference.

The NFL is a case study in the perils of playing politics to which other companies would do well to pay heed. No matter what side a company takes in a charged political debate, it’s guaranteed to upset a large chunk of its customer base. And for what?

Too many of our institutions — the vast majority, in fact — are run by people who are more concerned with their reputation among fellow elites than with the performance of the institutions they are responsible for.