As the NFL struggles with how to deal with the national anthem protests, the league’s ratings and stadium attendance is reaching new lows.
During October, ESPN lost a total of 480,000 subscribers, as players continued to kneel during the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
But it was not the only major cable sports giant to lose subscribers—FoxSports1, also lost 584,000 subscribers in the same month.
According to Breitbart News, the move was “straight out of the ESPN playbook,” and especially strange, since FoxSports1 has branded itself as an alternative to ESPN.
Some NFL fans have been turned off from the continuing trend of kneeling in protest during the anthem that was started in 2016 by currently unsigned Colin Kaepernick, who claimed he was protesting against “police brutality” and “racial injustice.” Critics argued that it was not the right time, nor the right venue, to inject politics into the formerly apolitical NFL.
ESPN’s shrinking subscribers will make it difficult for the network to be able to afford Monday Night Football after 2021, the date when their contract ends, according to Breitbart News.
According to Sporting News, unnamed sources told them that the next round of cutbacks could occur in late November or early December this year, with 40 to 60 positions potentially being impacted.
The layoffs could hit both on-air TV and radio talent and also behind-the-scenes production staffers.
“This time it won’t matter if you’re ‘liked’ or not. It’s not going to be pretty,” one source told Sporting News.
Another source told Sporting News they expect to see ESPN “going down a path where they have less staff—and hire more production companies to provide programs and fill air time”