You can't argue with facts. Viewership is down. I think it'd be stupid to argue that the protests have nothing to do with the decline.
But the question remains: what is the end-game of the boycott?
We can look at The Packers' financial statements to get a sense for where the money goes. The Packers pulled in $441MM (million ) in revenue, while expenses rose to $371MM resulting in Net Income of $73MM. Of those expenses, about $156MM come from players.
So, if revenues decline, does anyone really think they'll take it out on the players? Most of them are under contract, so in the short-run they won't feel the pinch.
I'm not saying the boycott shouldn't continue. The essence of the boycott is "if you all support Kaepernick taking a knee because he hates the police, when we'll ignore you." Thus, the boycott has a noble underpinning. Anything that results in strengthening of the family and fathers and mothers spending more time with children and less time on panem et circenses is a net positive for society.
But, net-net-net, if revenues decline, the cuts will come in the middle offices and trickled down to concessions employees, parking attendants, etc. The players that many people seem to abhor, will largely remain unimpacted (aside from some loss of endorsements etc.).
The players are not the real problem. They’re young Black guys who have been immersed in Liberal politics. It’s the league brass and the owners who are to blame for allowing them to alienate the fans with these protests.
We have an epidemic of a lack of authority throughout society. The adults are afraid of the children. And the adults are the ones who are to blame.
The cuts will be in future contracts, not the current ones. There are new contracts written every year.
There will be a similar situation with ticket sales. Most tickets for this season are already sold.
The contracts with the networks renew every 10 years. They will be negotiated soon based on the viewership ratings at that time.
Everyone involved with the league will be financially affected in due time, including the players. Be patient fellow patriot.
Collective team NFL player salaries are set by salary cap. The salary cap is predicated on revenue. So, yes I think player's salaries will decline.
But the contracts of some number of players come up every year. If the declines continue, it will begin to affect the ccontracts players up for renewal and free agency can negotiate. And if will affect roookie contracts.
Some players who should really start thinking about this are the college players with pro potential.
Short term yes, but long term, they, and mostly their replacements, will feel it big.
Everything to do with the NFL is under contract, and so this season it appears nothing is affected. But the broadcasters are being hurt right now, because they sold advertisements to companies guaranteeing X amount of viewers, which they are no longer getting. So they have to make good by broadcasting ads for free until the difference is made up. At the point President Trump made his first NFL tweet, the broadcasters had already lost $200 million. It will just keep piling up.
When the broadcast rights contract is up and being renegotiated, the NFL is going to get a pay cut. The next contract will not be as big as the current one. Next downstream will be the teams, who will take a smaller amount from the new contract. And finally, the players. Older players who usually get good fat contracts will either be cut or get a smaller amount. Teams will play more new cheap league minimum players.