It sounds enticingly axiomatic but the Ravens just disproved it by releasing Rice.
The NFL is full of bad actors; I have no sympathy for either side. However, if business is the watchword then in the Manhattanite bubble of the league office they are, at present, more concerned about cable talking heads on ESPN and elsewhere, especially now that non-sports media will be hurling the usual PC invective. It sounds mad but they will be more concerned with threats of boycotts by groups who don’t even watch the NFL than they will by their current paying customers.
For now, Rice is more of a symbol than a person and will be treated as such. It will come as absolutely no shock if his suspension is increased for PR purposes and it will come as no shock if and when he is signed by a team seeking a running back, with the usual cap-in-hand platitudes mouthed by front office types.
What makes NFL profitable is the ad revenue from televising games. Advertisers are vulnerable to boycott threats from angry women. Of course, how outraged women will be over a black athlete who beats his wife (as opposed to an athlete who is pro-life) is another story.