RUSH:  Rasmussen Reports:  “Are Americans Tuning Out the NFL Over Protests?”  Well, they’ve done a survey, a telephone and online survey, and “nearly one-third (32%) of American adults say they are less likely to watch an NFL game because of the growing number of Black Lives Matter protests by players on the field. Only 13% say they are more likely to watch a game because of the protests. Just over half (52%) say the protests have no impact on their viewing decisions. 

“But as with most questions involving race, blacks and whites have sharply different reactions. Twenty-eight percent (28%) of blacks say they are more likely to [watch] an NFL game because of the protests, compared to 8% of whites and 16% of other minority Americans. Whites are twice as likely as blacks — 36% to 18% — to say they are less likely to watch…” Well, I don’t know what… All this is mumbo jumbo because they’re fewer people watching and it is a significant drop.  The numbers on the Sunday night and Thursday night games are dramatically down, worrisomely so.

The NFL is chalking it up to the election and people’s attention being diverted and their passions being split because of the campaigns and so forth.  They are attributing none of the problem to the dishonoring of the flag via National Anthem protests.  Whatever, it is a trend that is not predicted. Nobody saw this coming.  Everybody thought with the dearth of programming on TV, NFL programming was a guaranteed winner. It’s drama.  The outcome is unknown every game.  You can’t predict it. There’s no script.  I think there are a lot of factors here, as we have discussed, but it’s not just the protests. 

That’s just one part.  You know what I really think it really is?  There are things about the NFL telecast that irritate people that they have been willing to put up with.  Commercial breaks so long. The delays for instant replay which isn’t instant, any number of other little things. Blow-out games.  But when you add the fact that these players being paid millions of dollars seem eager to show disrespect for the country, I’m telling you, it rubs a lot of people wrong.  And it could be the… What do you call it, the thing that breaks the camel’s back? The straw! Yeah, that makes them make a decision to not watch as often.