Posted on 10/08/2017 2:11:36 PM PDT by Academiadotorg
A recent Cato Institute poll shows Republicans, at least those surveyed by the libertarian think tank, and average voters are at odds with each other on the NFL controversy.
"Sixty-five percent of Republicans say that NFL players who refuse to stand for the National Anthem should be fired," Cato pollster Emily Ekins said on Sept. 28 in a First Amendment conference at the Libertarian think tank. "This is wildly out of step with what most Americans think."
"Sixty-one percent say that players should not be fired for refusing to stand."
Yet, the Cato survey oversampled college students. Moreover, the Cato poll missed the hit to the NFL's gate. Fox News host Sean Hannity has been gleefully posting the steep decline in NFL ticket sales ever since football players started taking a knee en masse, although the league is doing its level best to spin the damage.
"This week, they've seen a 21.8 percent decrease in sales compared to before Week 4, but that was pretty much in line from the kind of decrease they've seen in recent seasons, which have been more than 30 percent lower in two of the past three years," Kevin Spain reported in USA Today last week.
TV ratings show a similar decline. "Four weeks into the current NFL season television ratings are down nearly 10 percent overall compared to the first four weeks of last season," Daniel Roberts reported on yahoo Finance. "Sunday’s games in Week 4, according to Nielsen, had the smallest audience of any season so far: an average 14.2 million viewers."
There may have been at least one notable exception-- the Thursday Night game between the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "During Thursday night's game, the players and coaches first held a moment of silence to honor the victims who were killed in the Las Vegas massacre Sunday night, before all the Buccaneers and Patriots players stood for the national anthem," Katie Jerkovich reported in The Daily Caller the next day.
Watching MLB Playoffs, screw the NFL.
Let them oversample to make them feel better, polls don’t reflect the reality of the hole they dug themselves.
Drove by a sports bar today at 1:00. Parking lot was a quarter full.
Usually this place is completely full on Sundays at 1.
The decline in viewership is more than they think.
It’s already a new kind of virtue signaling. Liberals in public places are now going around saying how much they like their NFL team.
What they don’t understand is political correctness will not save the NFL.
Polls in today’s world mean zilch. The NFL, like the Democrat Party, is dying, killed by the the actions of the NFL Commissioner, the Owners and, the players who have been sent to earth by God Almighty, minus their brains and smarts.
According to these types, an Elected President Trump is also wildly out of step with what most Americans think on the subject.
Just to add my own anecdote — we had dinner with some friends the other night, one is a born-n-bred Pittsburgher (Pittsburghian?) who told us he has boxed up all his “Steelers sh*t” and stuck it in the garage. “I’m not ready to burn it yet, but pretty close.” White Repub, 50-something, tech professional. I have to admit I was a little surprised. He’s the husband half of a couple who I’d describe as socially liberal, fiscally conservative. But this kneeling for the anthem crap has him incensed.
Dodgers up 2-0 :)
Nothing else counts to the owners and the league. As the money drops, they will suddenly become "patriotic" and grimly order their players to stand.
It won't mean anything except rank self-interest, but the point will be made.
Football doesn't exist for the players, or the owners, or the sponsors: it exists for the enthusiasts who pay for the tickets and buy the gear.
Until the MLB players take a knee. Are you listening MLB?!
Sox about to break this one wide open.
College students don’t buy enough tickets to keep up with the NFL’s expenses :)
Boycott them !
BTW Nielsen over samples college students.
It used to be that you chose to participate but now they pick the areas they want participating
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/about-us/nielsen-families.html
ESPECIALLY FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS
Why am I as a college student so important to Nielsen?
Your family was selected to participate in the Nielsen TV Panel. Even though you are currently living away from home you are still part of the family. It is important for you to continue your normal viewing and have it taken into account. Our Nielsen TV Ratings information lets TV, cable networks and local TV stations know how their programming is doing.
I haven’t watched NFL this season. Today I turned on the TV to NASCAR “just for a little background noise”. After about an hour of that it became so boring I turned off, and doubt if I’ll even bother again.
me too! go Sox!!!!
Sox looking good now.
Cato is an interest group and thus has an ax to grind. I wouldnt believe their polls unless verified by other surveys.
10-3. But he should have caught that, embarrassing.
And I am as likely to run into liberals there as I am at the Center for American Progress.
Good job, Sox. Now let’s go Tribe!
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