Last weekend, NFL teams issued statements that in effect supported the rights of their players to kneel or otherwise protest during the national anthem.
This week, many team owners and officials reportedly are sending a very different message to their players. ESPN's Darren Rovell reported Friday that, "Behind closed doors, it has been made clear by many teams to team leadership that kneeling during anthem will hurt business."
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So far, the only evidence that the eruption of protests last weekend will hurt the NFL's bottom line is anecdotal. But the barrage of anti-protest comments on social media, the boos in stadiums and the videos of fans burning NFL team jerseys and collectibles don't look good for the league or its teams.
At a protest Thursday night in Swansea, Mass., more than 100 Patriots fans turned out to throw team jerseys and other merchandise on a bonfire as a reaction to player protests last weekend.
Protest last night in #Swansea, #Massachusetts. Fans burning #Patriots jerseys after players protested during #NationalAnthem last week. pic.twitter.com/binptelpBU
— Chris Stewart (@CStewartWPTV) September 29, 2017
So are NFL team owners seeing these types of scenes and saying, "enough" to player protests? These men didn't become billionaires without a keen business sense. They can certainly read the polls that show more than half of fans oppose anthem protests.
Polls taken this week, by CBS, Fox and the Remington Research Group, show anywhere from 52 to 64 percent of those surveyed oppose protests during the national anthem. The Remington poll found 51 percent of respondents say they are watching less football this year, and when asked the reason, 69 percent responded, "Players using the NFL as a stage for their political views."
It's premature to draw a conclusion that TV ratings have declined this year because of protests, but they are down about 10 percent through the season's first three weeks, according to Nielsen.
That follows last season's decline, when TV ratings fell 8 percent. In a JD Power poll this summer, 26 percent of NFL fans who watched fewer games last season did so because of national anthem protests.
If NFL team officials are sending messages to their players to tone down their actions, the result might look something like what the Cowboys did Monday night, when the entire team, including owner Jerry Jones, knelt before the anthem, then stood in unison for the song. Friday, Drew Brees and the Saints announced the team would follow a similar course before their game Sunday. In a statement, team owner Tom Benson said the team would stand for the anthem.
"As an owner in the NFL and NBA for years, I have met many players, coaches and staff from seemingly every background possible," Benson said. "But as this week has demonstrated, there are very sensitive, difficult and emotional matters affecting this country. Now more than ever we must find solutions that unite and don't divide us.
"Today, Drew Brees and team leadership stated that our team will stand for the national anthem. Regarding the issues of social injustice, I stand ready to offer our organizations, our players, and our community meaningful support and resources to move from protest to solution."