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The NFL has been sacked for a loss. Once considered immune to the audience erosion plaguing the television industry, ratings for the National Football League have tumbled through the first four weeks of the season. TV networks have bet heavily on sports in general, and the NFL in particular, because of the must-see value of their content. While more viewers are watching commercial-free streaming services like Netflix or recording shows on DVRs and skipping the ads, sports is still primarily watched live, making it valuable to advertisers.

Doug Baldwin, the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver who led the team’s quest to find a unified way to protest police brutality against minorities, claimed that some owners “have taken a stand and told players to do certain things, which I think is egregious” in an interview with HBO’s Bill Simmons. NFL ownership is overwhelmingly white; more than half the players in the league are black. Increasingly over the last few years, players have sought to express themselves, especially after police shootings of unarmed black men. The national-anthem protests, though, take place during the highly visible pregame ceremonies. “There’s been owners...

It's the Kaepernick Effect, stupid. The alarming fall in NFL TV ratings this season is partly because of fan anger over on-field protests by Colin Kaepernick and other players of the American flag/national anthem, according to pollster Rasmussen Reports.

However, one factor that appears to be making a large dent in the ratings and continuing to grow is the backlash resulting from the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick sitting or kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality against African-Americans. A percentage of fans are now boycotting the NFL in reaction to Kaepernick’s protests and/or the lack of discipline from the league offices resulting from them. It’s likely that a sizable chunk of the rating decline is due to fans swiftly and decisively responding to Kaepernick’s growing protests by turning the games off entirely

The issue of Donald Trump's candidacy for the White House has been discussed in NFL locker rooms. Some players say there have been low-level confrontations while others say friendships have ended. Here is a straw poll of 43 NFL players on how they plan on voting in the election: •20 of 22 black NFL players plan to vote for Hillary Clinton. •2 of 22 black NFL players plan to vote for Donald J. Trump. •21 of 21 white NFL players plan to vote for Trump. “A lot of black players believe saying the first black president isn’t really American is...

Here is the official response I got from USAA on their NFL sponsorship: Thank you for your response. USAA is proud to serve as the Official Military Appreciation Sponsor of the NFL, and our sponsorship is a reflection of our mission and commitment to serving the military community. We have no plans to end our role as the Official Military Appreciation Sponsor of the NFL. The NFL provides a great platform through which we can raise awareness about and appreciation for America's military and their families. We are proud to work with great players like Army veteran and Pittsburg Steeler...

There’s no denying that the numerous #BoycottNFL online campaigns and fan outrage aimed at the National Anthem protests in the NFL have taken a toll in terms of viewership... now the league is on pace for its lowest ratings in years... Overall, MNF‘s (Monday Night Football's) ratings are down a whopping 19% this year

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The latest of the Colin Kaepernick effect was felt across the football landscape this weekend. Beginning with high school football games, to members of the East Carolina Marching Band refusing to play the National Anthem, the “Kaepernick effect” is far reaching and exposing layers to our national season of discontent and discourse. It’s also having an effect on perennial ratings darling, the National Football League. #BoycottNFL is working, and media watchers, ad people, and the folks at Forbes.com are beginning to talk about a trend likely not to change anytime soon. Regardless of your personal views or your politics, the...

The Cleveland Browns got screwed by a fumble call, when the ball was already in the possession of Duke Johnson and he stood up, while players fought for something else in a pile. To most rational people who can watch something with their own eyes, that’s what happened. However, rather than just acknowledge the mistake and move on (something that has happened many times in the past), the NFL is bizarrely digging its heels in on this one.

Research conducted on behalf of SportsBusiness Daily has found unprecedented double-digit audience declines for NFL games so far this season. According to research firm CivicScience, NBC’s Sunday Night Football — the highest rated prime-time program for the last five years — has seen its average audience drop 10 percent so far this year after four games. Viewership of the NFL’s widely dispersed Thursday night games has dropped 15 percent. And ESPN’s Monday Night Football is down 19 percent. It’s not fringe science — culling Nielsen data, Sports Media Watch has the NFL’s ratings pretty much down across the board through...

NFL Live Thread Week Five Thursday, Oct. 6 8:25 p.m. ET Cardinals at 49ers Sunday, Oct. 9 1 p.m. ET Patriots at Browns 1 p.m. ET Eagles at Lions 1 p.m. ET Bears at Colts 1 p.m. ET Titans at Dolphins 1 p.m. ET Redskins at Ravens 1 p.m. ET Texans at Vikings 1 p.m. ET Jets at Steelers 4:05 p.m. ET Falcons at Broncos 4:25 p.m. ET Bengals at Cowboys 4:25 p.m. ET Bills at Rams 4:25 p.m. ET Chargers at Raiders 8:30 p.m. ET Giants at Packers Monday, Oct. 10 8:30 p.m. ET Buccaneers at Panthers Bye week:...

Ratings for National Football League (NFL) games are on the decline through the first four weeks of the 2016 season … with some blaming the #BlackLivesMatter protests initiated by San Francisco 49ers’ backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Sunday night’s matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers drew just 16.7 million viewers – the lowest primetime audience of the year.That’s bad … but it’s even worse when you consider the previous three installments of Sunday Night Football also drew audiences that were smaller than last year by an average of 11.6 percent. Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network is...

Fun chase on the field during the game. Watch the All Lives Matter supporter in Gorilla suit make a fool of the NFL unpatriotic BLM fools! Lions vs. Bears Gorilla wins!

A fan disrupted the Bears/Lions game on Sunday when he ran out on the field wearing a full gorilla costume and a shirt that read "All Lives Matter" on the front and "Put The Guns Down" on the back. He was tackled, removed from the game and turned over to authorities.

In a new segment for his weekly series with The Player's Tribune, Seahawks' cornerback Richard Sherman appears in a four-minute video on how the NFL treats its players. He says that the league sees them like race cars, doing just enough to keep them in good shape to perform, then dropping them once they're no longer on a roster.

Traditionally the most prominent women in NFL were the cheerleaders but the game's top brass have launched an initiative to hire more women to be coaches, officials and scouts.  The NFL will hold its first job fair specifically for women, in Orlando, Florida, in January, just before the Super Bowl.

Fewer people are watching the NFL on TV, and no one really knows why. The NFL Players Association admits that the trend is an obvious concern. The league has kept quiet, likely fearful that talking about the situation would lend credence to the dynamic, possibly causing other fans who are still watching the games to say, “Maybe I should stop, too.” The decline has become a mystery, for the media and surely for the NFL.

NFL Week Four Thursday, Sept. 29 8:25 p.m. ET Dolphins at Bengals Sunday, Oct. 2 9:30 a.m. ET Colts at Jaguars 1 p.m. ET Titans at Texans 1 p.m. ET Browns at Redskins 1 p.m. ET Seahawks at Jets 1 p.m. ET Bills at Patriots 1 p.m. ET Panthers at Falcons 1 p.m. ET Raiders at Ravens 1 p.m. ET Lions at Bears 4:05 p.m. ET Broncos at Buccaneers 4:25 p.m. ET Rams at Cardinals 4:25 p.m. ET Saints at Chargers 4:25 p.m. ET Cowboys at 49ers 8:30 p.m. ET Chiefs at Steelers Monday, Oct. 3 8:30 p.m. ET Giants...

Chicago Bears last night drew in 18.62 million viewers, scoring a 6.8/21 rating in the 18-49 demographic, the group most coveted by advertisers. That marks a fall from last week’s 7.4 rating in the 18-49 demo. Last night’s game also scored a 12.9/21 in Nielsen’s metered-market rating, a decline from last week’s 13.7/23.