NFL ratings are down, no doubt (lack of stars, predictable games, CTE, etc). IMHO, it’s a mistake to link that decline to the “kneeling” issue. Why?
Our most explicitly patriotic sport, NASCAR, is way down, much more so than the NFL. Empty stands. Low TV ratings. Aging core audience. Failure to attract millennial to its car culture. Loss of star drivers. Fewer crashes.
For both the NFL and NASCAR, it’s about the product, not patriotism. Got to renew your product offering while retaining loyal fans and building new ones. Kneeling is irrelevant.
Totally no correlation whatsoever. NASCAR "our most patriotic sport"?? Not even close to football. NASCAR is predominantly a southern sport that Bill France expanded by building tracks in other regions. I know literally hundreds of people who go to college and NFL games that have NEVER in their lives attended a Nascar race .. or even watched one on TV. NASCAR?
I know quite a few people - historically strong football fans of both college and NFL - who have simply stopped watching NFL games due to the perceived lack of patriotism and "misdirected nature" of the protests. Blacks, whites, hispanics, asians, all live in the USA under the freedom achieved by soldiers of all races fighting under that flag. That flag and the anthem have nothing to do with any perceived racial injustices. The whole kneeling issue is counterproductive and perceived as a giant slap in the face to the country by those who have fought to provide freedom,
Why not orchestrate efforts for a POSITIVE series of actions? What are some of the biggest issues facing blacks in the US? Black on black crime, black on black murders, 75% of black children being born out of wedlock. Why not start some initiatives directed at black men and women having more respect for black people and others as well. Respect .. is earned .. not given because somebody shows a lack of respect for what the majority of this country holds as symbols of the strong core values of the USA.