by louis nelson 11/07/16 04:18 pm est ratings for national football league telecasts are down sharply this season, and donald trump has a theory why <u+2014> the election. <u+201c>you know, the nfl ratings are way down. you know why? because everybody<u+2019>s watching this. it<u+2019>s actually tougher,<u+201d> trump said at his rally monday afternoon in north carolina. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s actually tougher. everyone<u+2019>s watching. the nfl<u+2019>s ratings are way down and a lot of people say it<u+2019>s because of this.<u+201d> story continued below viewership is down for games across the nfl, but the drop has been especially steep for the league<u+2019>s flagship games. nielsen ratings for monday night football are down 20 percent relative to last year, according to a bloomberg report , while ratings for sunday night football and thursday night football are down 18.5 percent and 21.8 percent, respectively. nfl games have historically been ratings gold for tv networks struggling to attract an increasingly diffuse audience, immune to the other factors that have bogged down ratings elsewhere. as a result, the league took in $5.25 in billion from its broadcast partners in exchange for the rights to air games live, according to bloomberg. by steven shepard in an internal memo sent by the league last month to its media committee, nfl executives blamed <u+201c>unprecedented interest<u+201d> in the presidential election for sagging ratings and said its partners are <u+201c>unconcerned about a long-term issue.<u+201d> but other issues have weighed down the nfl beyond an uptick in competition from politics, including growing concern about player safety and continued controversy surrounding allegations of domestic abuse against players. the retirement of peyton manning, one of the league<u+2019>s most recognizable faces, combined with the suspension of new england patriots quarterback tom brady for the season<u+2019>s first four games robbed the league of marquee talent to highlight in prime time games. whatever is weighing down the nfl does not seem to have had the same impact on major league baseball<u+2019>s playoffs, which were widely viewed as a ratings success. game five of the world series, played last sunday night between the chicago cubs and the cleveland indians, actually beat the nfl<u+2019>s sunday night game, just the third time baseball beat football in head-to-head viewership since 2010 according to usa today . by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
trump claims his clinton battle is driving down nfl ratings - politico
louis nelson steven shepard jack shafer