November 2016 - CAUSE FOR NFL VIEWERSHIP DROP; PRESIDENTIAL CONCUSSION CONCERNS

The November Seton Hall Sports Poll, asked Americans how they felt about the concussion/head injury issue in football.  People were asked if they most agreed with President Obama’s feelings about having to think twice about letting a son play football, or President-elect Trump’s statement that head-on-tackles in the NFL are incredible to watch and the league has gone too soft on the issue of head injuries.  59% agreed with the Obama position while only 23% agreed with the Trump statement.  By gender, women agreed with Obama over Trump by 66%-17%, and men agreed with Obama by 52%-29%.

In a year of declining television viewership for NFL games, 23% of Americans say they are watching fewer games, and a quarter of them attribute it to the protests during the playing of the national anthem.

As for Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco quarterback who triggered the national anthem protests, 50% expressed disapproval over his deciding not to vote in the presidential election, with only 14% showing approval.  Only 30% of African-Americans disapproved compared to 58% of white respondents.  

There was good news for Major League Baseball amongst the findings - 19% the country said that the Cubs victory made them more interested in following baseball.