They sold out to their executive echo-chamber and are now facing the consequences:
With both baseball and basketball draped in all sorts of Black Lives Matter and social justice symbolism for their opening games, a substantially smaller number of fans tuned-in to the rest of the week’s games.
According to Outkick.com, neither league did well.
As for the opening games, Outkick reported that the return of the NBA on TNT saw the following numbers:
Lakers-Clippers: 3.4 million
Pelicans-Jazz: 2.1 million
ESPN’s MLB return numbers were also underwhelming:
Yankees-Nationals: 4.0 million
Dodgers-Giants: 2.8 million
Outkick’s Ryan Glasspiegel added more ratings numbers on Twitter. “To be fair since I compared MLB vs NBA return night 1, here is night 2,” (July 24) he wrote, adding:
MLB (last Friday, ESPN)
Mets-Braves (4p) – 922K
Brewers-Cubs(7p) – 1.0M
Angels-As (10p) – 797K NBA (last night ESPN) (July 31)
Celtics-Bucks (6:30p) – 1.3M
Mavs-Rockets (9p)- 1.7MThe Athletic’s Ethan Strauss also noted that the numbers continued to fall off for MLB
For good measure, Strauss also pointed out that baseball can’t blame the coronavirus. The virus didn’t stop people from watching Tom Brady golf with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson back in May.
Not only is viewership down, but favor-ability ratings have plummeted as well:
Sports Industry Now Viewed Negatively by Republicans and Independents
The sports industry now has a negative image, on balance, among Americans as a whole, with 30% viewing it positively and 40% negatively, for a -10 net-positive score. This contrasts with the +20 net positive image it enjoyed in 2019, when 45% viewed it positively and 25% negatively.
This slide in the sports industry’s image comes as professional and college leagues are struggling, and not always successfully, to maintain regular schedules and playing seasons amid the pandemic. Professional football, baseball and basketball games have also become focal points for public displays of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
While it’s not clear how much the various challenges and controversies swirling around the industry are each responsible for its slide in popularity, it is notable that sports has lost more support from Republicans and independents than from Democrats. In fact, Democrats’ view of the sports industry has not changed significantly in the past year, while Republicans’ has slipped from a +11 net-positive score in 2019 to a net -35 today, and independents’ from +26 to -10.
The sports industry’s image has also deteriorated more among women than men, and among older adults than those younger than 35. Sports has also lost more support from non-White than White Americans, but given the extraordinarily high ratings from non-White adults a year ago, this group continues to view the sports industry positively on balance today. That is not the case with White adults, who now view the sports industry more negatively than positively, and by a 22-point margin.
It is funny how Gallup initially tries to explain away the decline by saying it is because they aren’t sticking to a perfect schedule.
Because missing a couple games would obviously cause such a massive partisan shift in viewership and ratings.
It couldn’t possibly be solely because of their endearing support for BLM, riots, and cultural desecration?
It just so happens that sports had a pretty strong pro-America, pro-nationalist fanbase. When you suddenly start sh*t-talking America constantly, those people don’t really want to tune in.
But the execs don’t get it because of the echo-chamber.
I am fortunate personally because I never gave the slightest care about sports. Never watched them in the first place. So giving them up wasn’t even a consideration. They were already given up.
But, I am proud for those who stand by their values and choose not to give their time, money, or attention to agents that directly attack their personal values. It is a difficult choice to give up something you leisurely enjoy to save something you truthfully care about. But, it is the right choice.
I look forward to the day when these anti-American industries go fully bankrupt from the wokeness.
Read Next:
The Importance Of Rejecting The Leftist Moral Framework
How To Stop The Riots In A Single Day
BLM: “Crime Is Reparations”. If That’s True, Then They’ve Already Been Paid
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