OPINION:
I don’t watch much professional football. There are lots of better things to do on nice autumn Sundays. But when the weather is bad, I’ll indulge occasionally if the Buffalo Bills or the team formerly known as the Redskins are playing on TV. However, many of my friends have sworn off the NFL entirely due to the Black Lives Matter-inspired surrender of the national anthem to any type of disrespect the players feel inclined to show. I think that not watching is a mistake in this time of limited entertainment options. My advice is that they should watch the NFL games, but boycott the products advertised.
The NFL owners and their sponsors are capitalists who have caved-in to a leftist-led craze that despises our country and everything it stands for. Several NFL players — including some activists — understand that the owners’ newfound “wokeness” is merely a hand wave at political correctness in hopes that they will gain viewers from the progressive elements of society. Owners believe that the bleating from Hollywood- and New York-based personalities represents the opinion of average NFL fans. The only way to disabuse the league’s fat cats is to hit them and their sponsors in their pocketbooks.
NFL viewership declined during the kneeling imbroglio involving Colin Kaepernick and the owners took note, but the owners obviously have short attention spans and need to be reminded. Here is an alternative. Playing the so-called Black National Anthem allows players who want to protest to do so. They can kneel, salaam or do the Hokey Pokey if they like; but, if they do not stand respectfully for the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” they should not be allowed to play.
The main sponsors of the NFL are Subway, Burger King, Verizon, Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch and Nike. When the executives of these companies realize that the NFL is a liability and impacting their bottom line, they will let the league owners know. That is a win-win for fans who still respect the flag; they get to watch the game and make the big wigs pay for the consequences of their actions.
Black Lives Matter is not a grassroots movement; it is a non-profit leftist organization with an avowed anti-American agenda. Unfortunately, the alternate history of the American experience taught in most public schools and liberal arts universities today has rendered many Americans — and apparently the majority of professional athletes — historically illiterate. That makes them willing dupes for leftist propaganda. This is a culture war and the NFL owners have become fellow travelers on the wrong side of the front lines. Money can be an effective weapon in this war if it is used properly. The left has been using economic boycotts against sponsors of Fox News for some time. Turnabout is fair play.
President Trump thinks that lower ratings will pressure the NFL and thinks that not watching will make an impact. However, the real money in NFL profits is in advertising revenue; that is the critical center of gravity that patriotic Americans can use to win back the hearts and minds of NFL owners.
Sponsors need to know that their advertising dollars spent on NFL games are hurting their sales rather than enhancing profits. Merely boycotting NFL products will not pay off immediately. Fans should convey their displeasure directly. To do that, I would suggest direct messages to the offending sponsors’ web sites along these lines:
My family and I have ceased using your product(s) because of your endorsement of NFL football’s disrespect to the American Flag and our National Anthem. I will begin using them again when you demand that the NFL not allow players who show signs of disrespect during the Anthem to participate in games. I have no objection to players voicing or showing protest during the playing of what is called the “Black National Anthem” as this would allow them to exercise their right to free speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. When that happens, we will resume patronage. I regret having to take this action as I enjoy your product(s) Sincerely (your name).
A few hundred thousand of these notes accompanying a corresponding drop in sales will suddenly cause senior executives to re-examine their social consciousness before their respective board of directors re-examine them. At that point, the NFL will get the picture as ad revenues decrease in a time with no ticket sales.
Pepsi, Burger King and Busch will begin to rediscover patriotism if people start drinking more Coke and Coors and eating at McDonald’s.
• Gary Anderson lectures on Alternative Analysis at the graduate level.
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