Trump Explains Why NFL Ratings Are Down
President Donald Trump did his best to explain the NFL’s recent ratings decline during a speech on Sunday night.
As far as he is concerned, football just isn’t the same due to all the displays of politics that have become commonplace within it.
In President Trump’s opinion, it has made the sport “boring.”
“Football’s boring as hell,” he said in front of a large crowd.
“It’s just not the same, right?”
President Trump: “Football’s boring as hell.” pic.twitter.com/z73HoKp4s9
— The Hill (@thehill) September 14, 2020
Although President Trump’s qualms with football are obviously rooted in political disagreements, the sport’s declining ratings are an objective fact.
This past Thursday night, the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans drew 19.3 million viewers for the first game of the season.
Cam Newton was dressed to win. https://t.co/7V6rSJGsSX
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 13, 2020
The figure represented a 12 percent decline from the 22 million viewers that tuned in to watch the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears open the year in 2019-20.
In fact, it was a number that just barely topped what the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons did in 2018 – and that outing was rain delayed.
The ratings drop can’t even be explained by pointing to digital platforms eating away at TV audiences. Even with NBC’s totals from digital platforms, which were up 55 percent year-over-year, Chiefs-Texans did a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 20.3 million.
Kyle Kuzma is still laughing about it. https://t.co/asNBdWWxpZ
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 13, 2020
That total is 11 percent less than what the Packers and Bears did in 2019.
By any fair measure, the ratings are down – and President Trump thinks politics are a big reason why.
In his estimation, the league’s increased focus on social justice issues is hampering its on-field product.
“We’re trying to help the NFL,” he said.
“As long as they stand for our national anthem, as long as they honor our flag and our country—if they start kneeling I’m not going to be helping them much. They might come back but I won’t be watching. Neither will a lot of other people.”
So far, that has proven to be the case.
Whatever the cause for the NFL’s dwindling TV numbers, league commissioner Roger Goodell better figure it out quick.
For years football has reigned supreme as America’s top sport. If the NFL doesn’t get a handle on things, and quick, it could end up losing that title and all the riches that come along with it.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
I couldn’t care less about football, I have never been a fan of team sports but any moron can tell the NFL what is wrong. People work all week, hard to make a living, we come home tired the kids are screaming the wife is bitching about something and we are worried about the future of our family and children with the state of the world. Sunday comes, we go to church to refresh our soles and have lunch out after or a BBQ with the family, then 2 pm rolls around and time for the game. Suddenly a bunch of pampered millionaires strut out to the field and call us racist and bigots, disrespect the american flag and the police, when all we wanted to do was root for our team and hopefully watch an entertaining game so we could forget it all starts over again on Monday and now you’ve taken away any respite, so FU there other entertainments available or maybe just a nap!