Football and politics… two things that you don’t normally combine. 2017 has been an extremely political year, no matter what views you have. With the recent election, oppressed feelings, the war on terror, extreme violence in our nation, and constant social media, we have reached a tipping point as a nation. In recent months, the NFL has become a place where both fans and players have expressed their views. Most mornings there is a new story about which player or team took a knee during the anthem or which player decided to stand alone. Without getting too political, I want to discuss what effect this has had on advertising. The NFL is a multi billion dollar industry that America prides itself on. In fact, there is a whole day devoted to professional football. In my house growing up, Sundays were reserved for Jesus and football, specifically the Patriots.
The NFL season ends with the annual Super Bowl, which grabs the attention of every football fan (even those that are biter their team didn’t make it), along with people who don’t know a thing about football. Some watch the super bowl strictly for the infamous half time shows and the commercials that air during that 3 hours. It is safe to say that advertisements will have a very high interaction rate during these games. I still remember the Budweiser commercial that aired 3 years ago. The price tags on time slots prove that these advertisements are likely to be successful. According to Business Insider, a slot during the Super Bowl costs about 5 million dollars. Will this be the case this year?
With all the controversy in politics presenting itself in the NFL, is it possible that advertising during this time may suffer? There have been countless accounts of NFL fans disposing of their season tickets or not watching games because of the stance players are taking. According to this Forbes article, the ratings started to drop last season when Colin Kaepernick was the first to take a stance during the National Anthem. The ratings have continued to plummet which obviously has a direct effect on the advertisements aired during that time slot. By the same token, many people are just starting to watch the NFL, not for the football but because they want to see what all the news outlets are talking about.
I have seen 26 NFL teams that have taken a stance in the last month. Some had more players than others but each team had at least a few players. This article gives some insight into which team has done what. This Sports Illustrated article shows that the NFL ratings are down 7.5% compared to last year and last year was down 8% compared to 2015. 2016 was the election year and the start of the protest so I think it is inclusive to the decline of ratings. We are only 7 weeks into the season and the tension is continuing to build so it will be very interesting to see how the remainder of the season plays out.
On another note, II think it is important to take into account the other factors that may play a role in the decreased ratings. USA Today discusses the connection between political stances and the NFL but also brings in other factors like the devastating natural disasters happening right now. It is obvious that politics is effecting the NFL and their ratings. I am anxious to see if this downward spiral of ratings continues.
EChambers 