Is The NFL In Trouble?

Poll reveals how many football fans intentionally stopped watching the NFL, offers several reasons

Jan 9, 2018 4:23 pm

A new poll reveals that 33 percent of NFL viewers stopped watching during the 2017 intentionally, and cites a variety of reasons why. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images)

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A newly released poll revealed just how many NFL fans intentionally stopped viewing the 2017 football season and showed that it wasn’t just the national anthem protests that put people off.

What are the details of the survey?

• According to a poll from SurveyMonkey and Ozy Media, 33 percent of NFL fans boycotted the league for the 2017 regular season.
• The survey was conducted from Dec. 8-11, and polled a U.S. sample of 1,726 adults 18 and older. Of those, 1,233 considered themselves football fans.
• Poll takers were asked: “Did you purposely stop watching or attending NFL games this season for any reason?”
• When asked why they were boycotting, those surveyed were offered several choices and permitted to select multiple answers:
  • 32 percent said that they stopped watching NFL games in support of President Donald Trump, who has vocally been opposed to national anthem protests;
  • 22 percent said that they stopped watching NFL games as a gesture of solidarity with those players who kneeled during national anthem protests;
  • 13 percent said that they stopped watching NFL games as they had no interest in the teams playing during the 2017 season;
  • 12 percent said that they stopped watching NFL games in support of Colin Kaepernick, who started the national anthem protest movement;
  • 11 percent said that they stopped watching NFL games in response to the news of traumatic brain injuries among league players;
  • 8 percent said that they stopped watching NFL games because the games were boring.
  • 46 percent of those surveyed chose “some other reason.”
• The survey reported that “nearly equal proportions” of those surveyed boycotted in support of Kaepernick’s national anthem protests as those who boycotted in support of Trump’s opposition to said protests.
• When compared, men and women showed striking differences:
  • 35 percent of men surveyed said that they stopped watching NFL games in support of Trump, while 25 percent of women said supporting Trump was a factor in their decision;
  • 30 percent of women surveyed said that they stopped watching NFL games in support of players who kneeled, while 17 percent of men surveyed said that kneeling players were a factor in their decision;
  • 17 percent of women surveyed said that they stopped watching NFL games in support of Kaepernick, while 10 percent of men surveyed said supporting Kaepernick was a factor in their decision.