Anthem Mania

[Eddie]

for me, it's not the liberal politics themselves, but the fact that politics (liberal and otherwise) supplant good content.

This is the story -

People will still turn on the TV to watch the game content. What they won't turn on is all of the talking head crap that plays outside of that. And as ESPN loses some of that live game content to other platforms - along with the fact that most live game content is only going on in the evenings and on weekends - they are going to continue to lose viewers.

I used to watch sportcenter now and then, or just have ESPN on in the background during the day when doing other stuff. Now, if there isn't some sport on, I'm changing the channel.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I’m not buying that ESPN is losing ratings due to its “liberal politics.”

There are a lot of forces at work that will continue to drag ESPN down off its perch for the next 20 years. But this idea that all these conservative Trump supporter sports fans are no longer tuning in for political reasons is so dumb. That’s not happening.

I started tuning out of ESPN's original content (i.e. whenever they're not actually showing a game) a few years back when their entire apparatus was focused on Ray Rice for around a month straight. That was not really a political issue, but that seemingly gave ESPN the appetite to move beyond strictly reporting on just the sports. I still watch College Game Day and that's about it aside from the actual games.

While ESPN is very important to have for football due to the importance of each individual college and NFL game, it's easy to live without ESPN throughout the rest of the year with the exception of April and May for the NBA playoffs. It's also very easy to only subscribe for that select period of time. Who actually wants to listen to Jemele Hill? Does any hardcore or casual sports fan care to listen to her? Yet ESPN puts her on at the 6 PM hour on the east coast.

Compare that to TNT's NBA post game show, which is awesome. It's the type of show ESPN can still do as evidenced by College Game Day.

[happyone]

I really don't watch that much sports anymore - The Dodgers, Packers and BYU when they are on. If, and that's a big if, I watch a highlight show - it's normally on the NFL or MLB channel. I rarely watch ESPN.

[Walter Sobchak]

We need to replace the anthem, it's time to let the eagles soar!

[Jeff Lebowski]

[old_gregg]

snowflakes

[myboynoah]

lol

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[creekster]

lol

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What a bunch of clowns. White politicians? They ARE the inequality.

[Flystripper]

I don't think that woman is white

[creekster]

I don't think that woman is white

I guess I am color blind. Sorry.

[Topper]

The I in team is the A hole.

[Uncle Ted]

Papa John's Pulls NFL-Associated Ads Citing 'Negative Consumer Sentiment'

Pizza chain Papa John's announced Wednesday that it is pulling its advertising associated with the NFL, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell.


Per Jonathan Maze of Nation's Restaurant News, Papa John's founder John Schnatter said sales are down due to "negative consumer sentiment" regarding the company's relationship with the NFL.


Schnatter also called the NFL "an example of poor leadership," according to Maze.


A constant topic of discussion during the 2017 NFL season has been players' decision to protest during the national anthem.


While the trend was started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick last season, it has continued in 2017, especially since critical comments were made by President Donald Trump.
[...]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...umer-sentiment

Does this mean no more half-off Papa John's when the Cowboy's win?

[BlueK]

for me, it's not the liberal politics themselves, but the fact that politics (liberal and otherwise) supplant good content.

Agreed. i don't think conservative political content on ESPN shows would be what viewers want from ESPN either.

[BlueK]

There could be a statue of Trump installed at every NFL stadium. We could have everyone kneel to that. Problem solved.

[Uncle Ted]

For those that follow Facebook and have lots of conservative friends... Is it OK to watch NFL football again?

NFL owners approve national anthem policy for 2018

The NFL will enact a national anthem policy for 2018 that requires players and league personnel on the sideline to stand but gives them the option to remain in the locker room if they don't want to stand, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Wednesday.


Under the change approved by team owners at the Spring League Meeting, individual clubs will have the power to set their own policies to ensure the anthem is being respected during any on-field action. If a player chooses to protest on the sideline, the NFL will fine the team. The player also could be fined by his team, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network's Judy Battista reported.


Goodell said the six changes under the policy were unanimously approved by team owners who voted. San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York said he abstained from voting, in part, due to the lack of player involvement in the decision process.
[...]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...olicy-for-2018

I guess the NFL can use the money collected from the fines to make up for the loss in revenue the league has been seeing lately.