The Remington Research Group has just conducted a public poll, which shows two things very clearly. First, the American people agree with Donald Trump when it comes to NFL anthem protests. Second, if the NFL doesn’t cease allowing their league to become a fashion show for narcissistic SJW-wannabe’s, college football will be the most popular sport in America within five years.
While this is only one survey this is a survey conducted after President Trump declared war on NFL protesters in Alabama last Friday night, and if this poll is any indication, that war is already over.
The survey addresses the Trump factor directly:
Q7: Last week, Donald Trump said NFL players should stand and be respectful during the national anthem. Do you think NFL players should stand and be respectful during the national anthem?
Yes: 64%
No: 25%
Unsure: 11%Q8: On Sunday, a number of NFL players knelt during the national anthem in protest of Donald Trump’s statements, including players from your favorite team. Does this make you more likely or less likely to watch your favorite team’s games in the future?
More likely: 30%
Less likely: 50%
No difference: 20%
That two-question sequence is devastating for the NFL. Within the space of those questions, the poll establishes that a significant majority of the American people agree with what Trump said in Alabama on Friday night. Moreover, it also shows that the NFL’s response to President Trump was a complete failure.
Not only that, the poll shows that President Trump is more popular than NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell personally:
Q1: What is your opinion of Donald Trump?
Favorable: 46%
Unfavorable: 47%
No opinion: 7%Q2: What is your opinion of Roger Goodell?
Favorable: 12%
Unfavorable: 36%
No opinion: 52%
This crystallizes, as Daniel Flynn noted on the sports page a few days ago, just how well Donald Trump has chosen his enemies. In picking a fight with the NFL, headed-up by Roger Goodell, Trump pits himself against people that the public essentially loathes. Making it next to impossible for him to come out the loser in any kind of PR conflict. While President Trump may have his difficulties from time-to-time, he is infinitely more popular than the people he’s criticizing.
As for the popularity of the player protests themselves? That doesn’t look good for the NFL either:
Q4: Now, just thinking about this year, have you watched more football or less football compared to previous years?
More football: 19% [GO TO Q6]
Less football: 51% [GO TO Q5]
About the same: 30% [GO TO Q6]Q5: Why would you say you are watching less football this year?
Players using the NFL as a stage for their political views: 69%
New rules that reduce physical contact: 5%
There are too many games during the week: 6%
Games last too long: 2%
Pace of play is too slow: 2%
Something else: 12%
Unsure: 4%Q6: Do you think NFL players should stand and be respectful during the national anthem?
Yes: 64%
No: 24%
Unsure: 12%
This shows a public backlash against the substance and style of the protests. Not only has all the activism driven fans away from watching the games. The fans also substantively disagree with the players using the anthem as a tool for protest. A point buttressed by these follow-up questions:
Q9: Do you support protesting during the national anthem at the beginning of NFL games, or is there a more appropriate place for players to protest?
Support: 31%
There is a more appropriate place to protest: 60%
Unsure: 9%Q10: In the future, would you prefer to see more politics, less politics, or the same amount of politics during sporting events?
More politics: 7%
Less politics: 80%
Same amount: 13%
The partisan breakdown of the poll is disastrous for the league as well:
Most Americans, 51%, say they have watched less football this year compared to the past. Of respondents who said they have watched less football this year, 69% cite their reason as players using the NFL as a stage for their political views.
Republicans and Non-Partisans have been cutting back on watching football at a higher rate than Democrats, as 66% of Republicans say they have watched less football this year compared to 33% of Democrats. Among Non-Partisans, 55% reported they have watched less football this year compared to the past.
The macro numbers in this are bad, of course, with a majority saying they’ve watched less football. However, one would think that with the NFL’s embrace of left-wing politics, that they would at least gain some Democrats while losing Republicans and Indies. Clearly, that is not the case. It turns out even a significant portion of Democrats are turned off by what they’re watching on Sunday.
Again, this is one survey, others will have to come out showing similar things in order to draw long-lasting conclusions. However, if these numbers are accurate, the heavyweight bout between the leader of the free world and the richest sport in the land, is a first-round, one-punch knockout.