That’ll bring the fans back.
They really don’t care. Ratings are...relative. In real viewers, football is down or flat, at best. But, relative to other broadcast shows, football is still easily the most watched programming on TV. Better yet for the NFL and its sponsors, it’s live programming which makes it impossible to ‘fast-forward’ through the commercials, as is endemic with non-live programming that is often consumed using a DVR.
So, while their ad-rates have fallen, then haven’t fallen nearly as much as scripted dramas and reality TV. The NFL is still an enormous cash-cow thanks to the sponsors that line-up to take advantage of those live eyeballs. And that brings us to what’s driving the ‘woke’ push by the NFL; it’s the sponsors. Corporate America is home to some of the biggest progressive champions in the country. The NFL is giving them what they’re demanding.