The Owners Have Had Enough

[Tugg Speedman]

Right or wrong, the owners have had enough and they are going to stop it.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: Any player who is 'disrespectful to the flag' won't be allowed to play
October 8
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/10/08/cowboys-owner-jerry-jones-player-disrespects-flag-allowed-play

Dolphins owner Steve Ross now wants players to stand for anthem, coach Adam Gase makes it a rule
October 8
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-sp-dolphins-ross-anthem-20171008-story.html

Why have they had enough and are going to end it now?

NFL advertisers are 'nervous' amid protests, ratings dip
October 6
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nfl-advertisers-nervous-amid-protests-ratings-dip-161454056.html

Four weeks into the current NFL season, television ratings are down nearly 10% overall compared to the first four weeks of last season. Sunday’s games in Week 4, according to Nielsen, had the smallest audience of any season so far: an average 14.2 million viewers.

Add that ratings dip to the ongoing controversy around player protests, and you might reasonably wonder how official NFL sponsors, as well as brands that buy advertising during NFL games, feel right now about the league.

The answer: “They’re nervous,” says Brian Cristiano, CEO of ad agency Bold Worldwide. “Everyone is looking at the numbers, they’re looking at the ratings… they’re nervous. They’re like, ‘Are we overpaying? What are we going to do? Can we have makeups? How else are we going to get this exposure back?'”

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Go ahead and say the owners are wrong, and maybe they are (I think the protests do hurt ratings).  Fact is a bunch of old white billionaires are going to bring the iron boot down on young African-American millionaires because of their fear of losing money and prestige.

Question - I'll assume the owners are serious about this threat.  So, how is this going to play out?  Are the protests going to stop and this ends?  If the protests continue are the owners going to sit those players?  How will that be taken?

Thoughts?

(Let me head this off, yes last week's Thursday night game between the Patriots/Tampa Bay had very good ratings.  That's because Brady plays in a different league and there are "Brady ratings" and "NFL ratings."  He's the closest thing to Michael Jordan since ... Michael Jordan.)

[4everwarriors]

Limp Johnson Roger mishandled the entire fiasco by ignoring it and figurin’ it would blow over.

[cheebs09]

Limp Johnson Roger mishandled the entire fiasco by ignoring it and figurin’ it would blow over.

Honestly, it kind of did until the Pence move and now this.

Jerry Jones is fine going to bat for Elliott or Greg Hardy, but this is where he draws the line. I would be interested to see what happens if Dak or Dez decide to take a knee now.

[wadesworld]

Limp Johnson Roger mishandled the entire fiasco by ignoring it and figurin’ it would blow over.

It would've blown over had our Commander in Tweet not opened his senile mouth, ai'na?

[4everwarriors]

Oh yeah, BO wuz da personification of a leader, ai na?

[wadesworld]

Oh yeah, BO wuz da personification of a leader, ai na?

He certainly wouldn't have called people exercising their rights as US citizens SOBs or said they should've been fired, allowing this thing to blow up, that's for damn sure.

I think I was, if not THE most, one of the most vocal opponents of Kaepernik's "protest" on Scoop.  But the reason it has turned into a "successful" (in terms of getting major support from his peers and major publicity, not in terms of achieving what he claims he was protesting for) protest is because the Commander in Tweet can't help himself.  At 71 years old.  SAD!

[MerrittsMustache]

He certainly wouldn't have called people exercising their rights as US citizens SOBs or said they should've been fired, allowing this thing to blow up, that's for damn sure.

I think I was, if not THE most, one of the most vocal opponents of Kaepernik's "protest" on Scoop.  But the reason it has turned into a "successful" (in terms of getting major support from his peers and major publicity, not in terms of achieving what he claims he was protesting for) protest is because the Commander in Tweet can't help himself.  At 71 years old.  SAD!

I still think this is the issue. The original meaning of the protest has been almost completely lost and players have started kneeling/sitting as a result of being angry at the POTUS for insulting them.

[StillAWarrior]

Apparently, with the locking of the LV thread, we needed another that was destined for the same fate.

[B. McBannerson]

The owners are feeling it. Someone here said no one is boycotting.  That didn't age well.

I'm in advertising, I see the Nielsen, Comscore, etc each week.  Advertisers are asking what they are paying for.  Broadcasters and entities like Verizon, Direct, Amazon wondering if their investments make sense. 

It isn't just Roger, but look at who runs the PR show there Joe Lockhart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lockhart.  If you know what Joe is about, you know why they've taken the approach they have in the last year and why it's a disaster to the majority of their fanbase.

[B. McBannerson]

It would've blown over had our Commander in Tweet not opened his senile mouth, ai'na?

Ratings were down before he tweeted a thing.  Why is it that Pence's move is a PR stunt, but what these guys do every single week to gain attention (the definition of PR stunt), isn't?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Limp Johnson Roger mishandled the entire fiasco by ignoring it and figurin’ it would blow over.

A while back I said that letting it blow over was the right call. It was going to die out on its own and doing anything to Kaepernick would just make him a martyr.

Goddell managed to avoid making Kaep a martyr....but then the owners did it for him. Whatever the reason you believe for Kaepernick not having a job this season, the perception was that he was being kept out of the league for his political beliefs, giving new life to the protest for this season. I could be wrong but I honestly don't believe that anyone else would have kept kneeling if Kaep had a job at the start of this season.

Even then, I think the protest was going to die out on its own. It was getting less and less attention despite things like the Michael Bennett arrest. But then you know who got involved and now its a mess. Goodell could have maybe anticipated the owners not hiring Kaep the following season, but there is no way he could have been expected to anticipate the president calling his employees SOBs and demanding that they get fired.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Oh yeah, BO wuz da personification of a leader, ai na?

Can someone explain why "but Barack Obama wasn't great either" is such a common defense nowadays? If someone doesn't like or agree with Trump, how is Obama involved at all?

[4everwarriors]

He’s a blowhard. Just smiles more and more politically correct. Especially, ineffective for 8 years which is fine ‘cuz his vision for socialist America was diastrous.

[Jockey]

He’s a blowhard. Just smiles more and more politically correct. Especially, ineffective for 8 years which is fine ‘cuz his vision for socialist America was diastrous.

Go back to your "Fire Crean" mantra. As stupid and annoying as it is almost every day, it is still probably the most intelligent thing to come off your fingers.

[Pakuni]

He’s a blowhard. Just smiles more and more politically correct. Especially, ineffective for 8 years which is fine ‘cuz his vision for socialist America was diastrous.

JayBee will be along any second now to demand a ban.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

He’s a blowhard. Just smiles more and more politically correct. Especially, ineffective for 8 years which is fine ‘cuz his vision for socialist America was diastrous.

Ok. Why is that an appropriate response to a criticism of the man who currently has the job? How is A related to B?

[Golden Avalanche]

He certainly wouldn't have called people exercising their rights as US citizens SOBs or said they should've been fired, allowing this thing to blow up, that's for damn sure.

For nearly a decade the only reason Trump was in the news was his repeatedly false assertion that Barack Obama was not an American citizen. In response, Obama laughed.

If we're determining the personification of leadership on the tenet of which one accepts the citizens' rights to free speech (regardless of its truthfulness), Obama would lap Trump twice before the latter could squeeze his cankles into his 1988 shoes.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Ok. Why is that an appropriate response to a criticism of the man who currently has the job? How is A related to B?

It's not but it's the common retort when there is nothing positive to say about the incompetent disaster currently in place. 

[Jay Bee]

It's not but it's the common retort when there is nothing positive to say about the incompetent disaster currently in place.

#BanBegger

[mu03eng]

Ok. Why is that an appropriate response to a criticism of the man who currently has the job? How is A related to B?

I'll take "The rise of whataboutism" for $1000 Alex

[Babybluejeans]

He’s a blowhard. Just smiles more and more politically correct. Especially, ineffective for 8 years which is fine ‘cuz his vision for socialist America was diastrous.

Lol. You sound like a teenager repeating what he heard his uncle say at the dinner table.

[#UnleashSean]

Anyone wanna let me borrow a microwave? I need popcorn for this thread.

[Lennys Tap]

Ok. Why is that an appropriate response to a criticism of the man who currently has the job? How is A related to B?

Seriously? I mean, you're right if we're talking logic, but politics and logic don't mix well. President Obama spent 8 years blaming his predecessor for his own administration's policy failures and whenever the president was criticized his supporter's mantra was "Yeah, but Bush was worse".

So, appropriate? Maybe not. But hardly surprising.

[LloydsLegs]

Jerry Jones is fine going to bat for Elliott or Greg Hardy, but this is where he draws the line. I would be interested to see what happens if Dak or Dez decide to take a knee now.

this and only this.  All else is noise.

[MerrittsMustache]

Seriously? I mean, you're right if we're talking logic, but politics and logic don't mix well. President Obama spent 8 years blaming his predecessor for his own administration's policy failures and whenever the president was criticized his supporter's mantra was "Yeah, but Bush was worse".

So, appropriate? Maybe not. But hardly surprising.

Yep. This is hardly a new phenomenon and not specific to the POTUS. When Congress doesn't get things done, Republicans blame Democrats and/or Democrats blame Republicans. Yet another reason why political parties should be a thing of the past.