National Football League

President Donald Trump’s feud with the NFL erupted nearly a week ago when he demanded that NFL franchise owners should “get that son of a b***h off the field” when they see players kneeling during the national anthem.  Since then, league owners have discovered, to their surprise, that millions of Americans – and more importantly, millions of NFL fans – agree with the president, who encouraged them to boycott the league until it agrees to ban kneeling during the anthem.

In an early morning interview with Fox News, Trump unloaded on the NFL protests and once again said that owners need to enact rules that prohibit players from protesting the national anthem or suffer the inevitable ratings collapse that will come if they don't.  Asked why the owners haven't already taken action, Trump went to say that he believes the owners are "afraid of their players."

Here's what Trump said:

"The NFL can not disrespect our country.  And guess what, most people agree with me. 

 

It begins. We suspect NFL owners, and their media lapdogs, may be about to start paying attention to what President Trump (and the fans of the game) are saying (and doing).

First, Bloomberg reported overnight that fans who agree with Trump shared lists of advertisers on social media networks while calling for boycotts along with hashtags like #PunchThemInTheWallet.

Richard Levick, a crisis communications expert, says the NFL deftly navigated the weekend’s challenges but expects no shortage of hazards ahead.

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com,

Frankly, in my view, the sporting world should be a politics free zone, and the fact that I am compelled to write about politics in sports in America today is bewildering beyond belief.

In the latest sign that viewers are turning out in droves over the politicization of professional sports, the Associated Press reports that through the first three weeks of the NFL season, viewership for national telecasts of NFL games is down 11% compared with 2016, Nielsen company said on Tuesday. While games had averaged 17.63 million viewers during the first three weeks of last season, that number has dipped to just 15.65 million so far this year.