This is a bit of a double-edged sword. Recent revenue numbers for the NFL reflected not only an increase from last season, but record numbers, with the league having earned $14B and distributed $8.1B to teams. This greatly discredits the assertions made, both by everyday fans and team owners, that the protests adversely affected business. Claims that protests negatively impacted television ratings have been routinely debunked. These contentions also fail to take into consideration the degree to which, even if ratings had been down related to protests, such a reduction could just as likely have been an effect Colin Kaepernick supporters boycotting the NFL due to its racist blackballing of the quarterback. This brings us to the other issue of concern regarding these extraordinary earnings–it disincentivizes the NFL to change course. If the league was able to gain record earnings while engaged in blatantly racist acts meant to chill speech, then there will be no incentive for the NFL to change its ways. This is where players must act in defense of both their brothers, Kaepernick and Eric Reid, and of their own dignity as human beings. There is nothing that will cause the NFL to recognize the error of its ways more quickly than a bold show of courage from players by refusing to play or a similar act of courage such as kneeling while on the sidelines en masse.
Article below by Nancy Armour at usatoday.com.
We should all fail as well as the NFL.
Each of the league’s 32 teams got a check for $255 million last year, their portion of a national revenue sharing pool that topped $8 billion, according to the Green Bay Packers’ annual financial report. That’s up almost 5 percent from the previous year, due largely to increases in the TV contracts, and is on top of whatever teams generate from local revenues like luxury boxes, concessions and independent endorsement deals.
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