Get the players union to explain to players where salaries come from. And how salary caps and player contracts will likely change with say 10% increase in consumers vs 10% decrease. And what future TV contracts (which pay salaries) will look like if viewership increases vs decreases between now and then.
I think the players union understands and isn’t making the stink they could because of that. But, they are not explaining to the players that their job is entertainment. And upsetting customers by bringing “reality” into the viewer’s “escape from reality” time is a bad business plan and will hurt their income as well as the owners.
It’s time for the union to stop trying to balance players’ egos and players’ salary and start focusing on the best financial outcome for it’s members. It shouldn’t be a hard sell if coming from the union:
“The NFL has given you fame and money that allow you to create your own platform for change. But doing that during “entertainment” events on the owner’s platform is not appropriate or smart business for your personal income future. A few people kneeling hurts all owners and thus will hurt income for all players. So entertain on football Sundays and work on your social change platform on other days”