Trump

[shockfan89_]

@Play Angry:, you are citing reports that did not come from Fox News. You are using those sources to counter something reported on Fox News. You are involved in this conversation with someone who gets all the news they ever need from Fox News. That person is probably of the opinion that all non-Fox reports are fake news.

You cannot even be considered part of the discussion with the person you are replying to.

Lol keep trying to spin and keep losing. None of my comments were based on reports from Fox News. Nice try though. Maybe you are the one getting too much fake news. :)

[Eric]

Trump is trying to jerk us all off, and by and large, it's working.

[jdshock]

Trump is trying to jerk us all off, and by and large, it's working.

Speak for yourself. I am getting nothing out of this.

[Aargh]

Lol keep trying to spin and keep losing. None of my comments were based on reports from Fox News. Nice try though. Maybe you are the one getting too much fake news. :)

If not from Fox, then Breitbart? Hannity? Limbaugh? Or is that just your opinion?

Wait - it can't be Limbaugh - Limbaugh wants the protests ignored so the NFL won't be destroyed.

[pinstripers]

The NFL ramped up their protests after Trump got involved. The ramped up kneeling is what has caused the backlash and caused the NFL to change direction. If the NFL and players had ignored Trump's initial outburst it likely would continued the way things were in week one and week two. The NFL and players stepping up their protests is what led to ratings going down and boycotts. I think the turnabout is directly tied to the feud with Trump and the extra attention brought to the issue.

of course

[shockfan89_]

If not from Fox, then Breitbart? Hannity? Limbaugh? Or is that just your opinion?

Wait - it can't be Limjbaugh - Limbaugh wants the protests ignored so the NFL won't be destroyed.

Reality based. The left has gone off the deep end and MSM including CNN and MSNBC are just a joke with their constant anti-Trump lies and spin after proving to everyone they colluded during the last election. Fox News is almost as far to the right as they try to play both sides between establishment Republicans and more popular conservative views. To answer your question, I try to get views from as many sources as possible and try to logically piece together the actual report. It would be easier if there was a news source that reported the news without bias. The problem is it would probably fail because most people just want to have their views substantiated. I actually enjoy people on here that have differing views and like to argue points without emotion. I am just as guilty as anyone else of getting emotionally attached to an argument at times. But I think hearing different sides and having the ability to admit when you made a mistake is important for people that want to find the truth and learn from multiple points of view.

[shockfan89_]

of course

@PlayAngry: stated it was odd to attribute the turnabout from the NFL on kneeling to the President's tweets rather than money. My point was the turnabout is based on declining profits as a result of poor publicity and declining ratings from the feud with the President over kneeling.

[CBB_Fan]

If what you say about the NFL is true, why is the trend towards making the players stand? The NFL is losing viewers and it is likely they know how much of that is due to changes in technology and how much of that is due to boycotts and the kneeling issue. The NFL is choosing to take action regarding the kneeling issue. Maybe that's because they can't do much about technology or maybe it is because the kneeling issue had a bigger impact than they anticipated it would?

Again, you are arguing with numbers. Ratings went up after the protest and ticket sales went up 9.6%. If they were being killed by the protests, the owners would have reacted far sooner and with much greater fervor. Instead, the message they put out tried to placate both sides:

Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us. We also care deeply about our players and respect their opinions and concerns about critical social issues. - Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner

They still aren't forcing players to stand, and they just want to move on from controversy by hoping players protest in a different way. Controversy has not killed their profits, or they would be joining Trump in calling NFL players "sons of bitches" and fining or benching kneelers. However, controversy may hurt future merchandise sales or dissuade advertisers.

But more importantly, I think we should all realize that this NFL kneeling controversy is teenage girl drama bullshit.

Becky is head cheerleader and doesn't like Hannah who is a popular girl in another cliche. When Hannah comes in wearing a red outfit barely in the school dress code to please her boyfriend (whose favorite color is red), Becky stands outside the classroom and loudly says "Oh my god, Hannah is such a slut" so that Hannah and her friends can hear.

Hannah and her friends decide to wear matching red outfits the next day to stand up to Becky, despite the fact that it is game day and the school colors are blue. Becky then goes around telling everyone that they must hate the team because Hannah's boyfriend didn't make varsity and that they are such "bitches." Becky goes to the principal to make them ban people from wearing red on game days, but Hannah and her friends say they should be allowed to express themselves.

In the end, the principal says that they'd prefer if people wore blue on game days and Becky claims victory, while Hannah feels like the principal took the side of a bully that likes to tease and harass others and start drama.

In the end, the NFL players aren't protesting the police. They are protesting Trump calling them "sons of bitches." It is made-up high school drama unbecoming either side, but Becky was the drama queen that started it all. It wasn't a calculated political move, it was just callithumpian ****-stirring via poor impulse control.

[shockfan89_]

Again, you are arguing with numbers. Ratings went up after the protest and ticket sales went up 9.6%. If they were being killed by the protests, the owners would have reacted far sooner and with much greater fervor. Instead, the message they put out tried to placate both sides

.

Can you tell me where you find that NFL ratings are up? I can't find anything to say they are up? Some anticipate they will improve, some reports say numbers are mixed, but most reports are ratings are down about 9 to 12% depending on the publication.

[pinstripers]

ratings are not up

[CBB_Fan]

Ratings are not up from last year. Ratings ARE up from before the controversy. To clarify, let's look at the actual ratings and not some op-ed from a news site. Overall ratings the past three weeks were 53.9, 57.4, and 52.5 for instance. On average, 54.6 weeks 3-5 and compared to 54.2 before the controversy.

All of these are lower than last years numbers, but the difference has actually gotten smaller week to week. Viewership was down 12.3 and 11.5% weeks 1 and 2, but just 7.2% through week 5. If kneeling was the cause we'd expect the opposite. Instead, the numbers suggest a more general decline in TV audiences and something large dominating the airwaves in competition with week 1 of the NFL (Hurricane Irma).

[shockfan89_]

So ratings are up but ticket prices down. Is it possible people are tuning in to see what players will do for the anthem? Obviously attendance appears to be down (based on ticket prices). Also, the link posted by @CBB_Fan: states week 5 MNF got a large boost from the Star Wars trailer played at halftime. Curious to see how ratings will look for the rest of the season.

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Friday, October 6, 2017

NFL ticket prices have plummeted in the wake of the uproar over the national anthem protests, dropping for the first time this year below the 2016 season’s prices.
An analysis released Friday by CNBC found that ticket prices during the first three games of the 2017 season enjoyed a 20-40 percent increase over last year, but then skidded in Week 4 and actually dropped by 2 percent in Week 5.
The timing coincides with the uproar following President Trump’s criticism of the protests on Sept. 22, which prompted nearly 200 players to sit or take a knee during the national anthem in the Sept. 24-25 games in Week 3.

“After the president’s comments and NFL player reactions, Week 4 saw only a 5 percent increase, and now we’re seeing an outright decline. So that’s a bad direction,” said CNBC’s Eric Chemi.

[CBB_Fan]

So ratings are up but ticket prices down? Also, the link posted by @CBB_Fan states week 5 MNF got a large boost from the Star Wars trailer played at halftime.

CNBC's analysis used just one ticket reseller, TicketIQ. Contradicting that, SeatGeek saw little change.

"We are seeing a similar number of transactions to what we saw in week 2 and week 3," SeatGeek representative Chris Leyden said in an email to TIME. "From our perspective, there either hasn't been an impact, or the impact has been equal (fans boycotting vs. fans supporting)."

The biggest ticket sellers (StubHub, Ticketmaster) haven't released data or statements.

And again, regardless of how effective the drama bullshit was or wasn't it was still immature and unbecoming from all sides. NFL players chose a dumb protest, and no president should randomly call Americans "sons of bitches."

But it is par for the course I guess. Will Becky try to break up John and Erica next? Will she start a feud between the basketball and football team? Stay tuned for next week's episode of Drama High School!

[Aargh]

And here we are discussing a controversy over some NFL players and some things that don't really have a major effect on our lives or the welfare of the nation.

Meanwhile, in Washington, is anything actually happening while we're looking somewhere else? Or are we looking somewhere else while nothing is happening? Perhaps if we weren't focused on the NFL, we would be looking harder at Washington and what's happening (or not happening) there.

Sometimes I think Trump creates a huge controversy so attention will be drawn to some tangent, while the actual objective is being pursued without anyone noticing. That is a pretty good strategy in negotiations.

[WuDrWu]

If kneeling was the cause we'd expect the opposite.

Oh bullshit. You try too hard. Why would we "expect" the opposite? Why wouldn't we expect a sharp downturn when it first happens, then some people to gradually ease up and say "Eh, I don't like it, but I'm still going to attend or watch"? That's what I expect. Stop trying to fit your narrative, like, EVERY TIME.

Instead, the numbers suggest a more general decline in TV audiences and something large dominating the airwaves in competition with week 1 of the NFL (Hurricane Irma).

They do suggest that? I think not at all. But again, trying to fit your narrative, no matter how tight the squeeze.