The National Football League continues to hemorrhage fans as player protests during the national anthem continue into their tenth week; with television ratings for the NFL’s flagship ‘Monday Night Football’ reaching near-season lows as angry viewers change the channel.
According to Deadline Hollywood, the embattled league’s ratings took a major hit following the weekend’s Veteran’s Day protests, with three Miami Dolphins players “taking a knee” during Monday night’s match-up as the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ filled the stadium.
“All of which saw the Week 10 MNF snag a 6.2 in metered market results last night. While likely to be the winner on both broadcast and cable, that is a decline of 18% from last week’s Monday Night Football,” writes Deadline. “Perhaps more painful for the Disney-owned cabler and the league is that last night’s game was basically steady in MM numbers with the MNF season low of October 17 when the Tennessee Titans beat the Indianapolis Colts.”
The NFL has been struggling to regain its footing following weeks of players choosing to “take a knee” during the performance of the US national anthem.
The ensuing controversy gained national attention when President Trump called for a total boycott of the NFL until officials and owners require players to stand during the ‘Star-Spangled Banner.’