Posted on 09/26/2017 2:20:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
How to square this with the emerging “boycott is happening” narrative from Sunday’s NBC and Fox ratings? It’s possible that a bunch of casual fans who normally don’t watch tuned in last night to see if there’d be a pre-game protest, artificially inflating the ratings. But if that were true, Sunday’s ratings should have been up too.
Imagine if NFL ratings ended up *increasing* this year after Trump attacked the league for being unpatriotic. That’d be the most embarrassing political own-goal since, uh, backing Luther Strange against a red-state populist when Strange was trailing consistently by 10 points in the polls.
Here was POTUS early this morning, previewing the “people are watching to see if there’s a boycott” spin…
Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
…and here’s NBC, chirping happily about last night’s solid ratings:
Cowboys-Cardinals got a 9.3 overnight rating for ESPN, easily the highest-rated Monday night game of the year. That came despite some talk that the controversy surrounding players kneeling during the national anthem would depress NFL ratings…
[T]he four Monday Night Football games so far this season have averaged a 7.8 overnight rating, compared to a 6.5 overnight rating for the first four Monday Night Football games last season. And even if you throw out the game that went up against the debate last year, Monday Night Football is up year to date over the 2016 average.
For the weekend as a whole, ESPN and CBS were up, NBC and FOX were down, and on aggregate ratings across the NFL were up about 3 percent from Week Three last year.
Trump’s right about ratings increasing for the pre-game and then declining during the games themselves. Ratings across the three networks were down an average of four percent on Sunday from this time last year but ratings for the pre-game shows were way up. Still, CBS’s 1 p.m. games did well, as did last night’s ESPN game. According to a Rasmussen poll taken last week, before Trump’s “son of a bitch” comments in Alabama, 34 percent of voters said they were less likely to watch the NFL due to the anthem protests. That’s a big pool of would-be defectors. There may be a boycott happening but not one that’s large enough yet to put a dent in Monday Night Football, unless they were offset by a large crowd of rubberneckers who tuned in for the pre-game politics and inexplicably declined to change the channel for three hours afterward.
In all likelihood what we’re seeing is a “soft boycott” where fans are less likely to sit through bad games but will set aside their political annoyance for good ones. If the Cowboys are playing the Cardinals, even an unhappy Trump supporter might grit his teeth and settle in for Dak Prescott versus Larry Fitzgerald. If it’s the Jets versus the Giants? Click. To hell with these unpatriotic millionaire ingrates.
Here’s Hillary last night on MSNBC sticking the knife in Trump, wondering why he’s so comfortable attacking black athletes but not white supremacists. Her criticisms of him are getting harsher; she also wondered in an interview yesterday if he knows that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Exit question via WaPo reporter Wesley Lowery: Why were the Cowboys booed last night for kneeling before the anthem? Was that standard razzing of the visiting team, or was it a clue that opposition to the protests isn’t about disrespecting the flag after all?
.@HillaryClinton: "Quite telling" that Trump attacks black athletes but never insults white supremacists or Putin https://t.co/5l6tnZpHQs
— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) September 26, 2017
For sure. This won’t bring new fans into the game. It’s not like people that might change their buying habits to help a Chik Filet or Target. No one’s going to tune in that wasn’t a fan before, even if so, it wouldn’t last.
That nfl ship has sailed. The only consequence will be the loss of fans, many of them permanently
I watched a few minutes to see the train wreck and switched off.
I’ve had season tickets to the local NFL team since 1987. I used to be a rabid fan of every game, but in recent years only watched games I attended and the playoffs. I asked my agent for a refund yesterday. Predictably, they declined. I wished them luck without me. I called the local Methodist college and ordered tickets to their football games for next season. I do like the game, but prefer mine without politics. I’m not a Methodist, but so far, this school has kept it’s bearings and kept the SJW camels nose out of their tent.
This was the viewer ratings, not a poll.
Here are all the ratings:
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nfl-tv-ratings-viewership-nbc-cbs-fox-espn-nfln-regular-season-playoffs/
I calculate a 5% decline total from Week 2 to 3. Not counting Thurs Night Football, which was pre-Trump speech. Please check my math!
Easy to explain.
It’s like when people drive by a terrible accident...They all have to slow, stop and look at the destruction and carnage.
The NFL is going to lose hundreds thousands of paying customers with their dive into politics.
Wouldn’t take that bet.
You’d win.
The NFL started a fight they won’t be able to finish and in fact, they’ll get KO’d but good here. Watch for them to make it much worse for themselves before it’s all done and said.
This was the viewer ratings, not a poll.
Still do not believe or trust them.
Honestly, I think it’s becoming clear even to them that they jumped the shark here.
The Stealers are now saying they stayed off the field out of respect, because they didn’t want to take sides.
A caller to the Limbaugh show pointed out that if you don’t want to take sides, you do the same thing you always have.
Rush said he thought that was a great point, and I agree.
Point is, they’re squirming already.
I thing it’s going to quickly turn extremely negative for them.
I think they’ll be changing their tune claiming victory shortly.
When people are burning their season tickets half-way through the season, you’ve got a real problem.
Season ticket holders don’t grow on trees.
Absolutely...
Leftists are one clueless bunch of MFs.
They have no fundamental grasp of this nation and what makes it work, why we love it.
Was There a Boycott? Monday Night Football Posts Best Ratings Of The Season To Date
Pure Bullshit and fake news by the pink panty MSM to try to make the assholes look a little less stupid.
Lots of those folks that accounted for the high ratings likely changed the channel in disgust after Jerry Jones cucked out and took a knee with his team.
Yep, it’s like when people drive by a terrible accident...They all have to slow, stop and look at the destruction and carnage.
Fake-news, here’s what’s going on, with numbers: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ap-fact-check-football-ratings-down-reason-unclear-213020079—politics.html
See #77. AP got caught with the same garbage story: https://www.yahoo.com/news/ap-fact-check-football-ratings-down-reason-unclear-213020079—politics.html
“Ratings are UP!” They’re breaking out THE BIG LIE, it’s all they’ve got. Brought to you by the same people who claimed Hillary was killing it and on her way to a big win.
Have not since about 1988..or so.
Couldn't care less............
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.