Poll: NFL Anthem Protests Impacting TV Viewership

With less than a week until the 2018 NFL season kicks off, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that interest in the league remains far lower than it once was, and fans are deeply divided over player protests during the national anthem.

The numbers paint a problematic picture. Fewer people, in particular Republicans, are following the NFL closely than they did four years ago. And many of those fans are the ones who also judge the player protests—which began in 2016 to call attention to social injustices and racial inequality—to be not appropriate.

Overall, 52% people said they follow the NFL closely. That’s an increase from 49% in January but the figure remains down from 58% in 2014. The recent rebound falls within the poll’s margin of error.

The poll is “still reflecting a lower audience base than we measured in 2014,” said Micah Roberts, a Republican pollster who helped conduct the poll along with Democratic pollster Fred Yang. “It’s not going in the right direction.”

Men age 50 and above follow the game closer than any other group measured, but they also have decidedly negative views about the protests. At the same time, those who have stopped following the league are those who overwhelmingly see the player protests as not appropriate. And those who follow the league have a more favorable view of the player protests than the general population.

Interest in the NFL has waned most among Republicans. According to the poll, 39% of base Republicans said they follow professional football not at all closely. That’s compared to just 16% of base Republicans who said that in 2014, making it the largest falloff for any group.

At the same time, the fans who are increasingly tuning out the NFL are also those at odds with the player protests. While 43% of respondents said they view the protests as appropriate—compared to 54% said they are not—only 10% of Republicans and 38% of white people said they think the demonstrations are appropriate. The poll did not ask if people’s habits changed based on the player protests, but Mr. Roberts said that, judging by the subgroups that showed the biggest changes, “the anthem protests are having an effect on the viewership.”