Brett Favre doesn’t sound like a big fan of politics being injected into sports.
According to the Washington Post, the legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback was a member of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s “America This Week” earlier in the week, and asked President Donald Trump, “The NBA and the NFL are struggling with lower ratings, as fans clearly do not want political messaging mixed with their sports. So how should the leagues support and promote an anti-racism position without becoming political and alienating fans?” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
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Trump responded in part with, “People don’t want to see all of the politics. They’ve got enough politics, with me and with everybody else. And they don’t want to see it with football or sports, on Sunday or whenever they happen to be watching.”
All players, coaches and refs take a knee and lock arms during the national anthem before the Lakers-Clippers game. pic.twitter.com/eZ9RHE3eh7
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 31, 2020
Obviously, Favre is 100% correct. The last thing sports fans want to see when they turn on a game is politics being shoved in their faces.
Nobody enjoys that, and the ratings reflect that fact. The TV ratings for the NBA Finals were atrocious this year and hit record lows.
NBA TV Ratings Crash For LeBron James And The Lakers. The Numbers Are Absolutely Pathetic https://t.co/yd2j4SWe5W
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 17, 2020
How bad has the politicization of sports ruined the product and alienated fans? That’s hard to say for sure, but NBA commissioner Adam Silver has already gone on record that the social justice messages will mostly be gone next season.
He’s not an idiot, and a quick look at the ratings make it clear there’s a major issue.
Fans want to enjoy the action. They don’t want to be lectured by millionaire athletes. It’s truly that simple to understand.