NFL Thread

[GeorgesGoons]

Definitely

In what world would any business not put an end to employees protesting injustice in the workplace when that protest hurts their own business?

And this is the part I don't get. Is their business not hurting? Ratings are down 2 years in a row. Some stadiums are 30% full, I blame that on bad judgement on getting a team to LA. Why wouldn't they try to nip this in the bud last year?

[GeorgesGoons]

they cant just fine people. theres a cba for a reason

I am sure there is a clause or something that states if it hurts business they can right? I never looked into what is in the CBA so I would have no clue, but that only makes sense if it hurts business

[Wasted Memory]

I completely agree with you there George. You have the right to protest, but if you violate any work agreements then you should pay the consequences.

[dakshdar]

If they convert to certain religions, they can claim they can't stand due to religious reasons and there is no forcing them.

Also, the idea that your boss can tell you to do something and if not you're fired is insanity. Wrongful termination? My boss can't order me to dress up like a chicken and walk around work all day clucking.

The idea that we are "NFL customers" and we have the right to force them to stand as well is more craziness. They are paid to play football. I'm not paying a dime to watch the pre-game. Just like I'm paid to be an engineer so my boss can't fire me for doing a poor job parking my car in the morning outside of work.

They should go back to having the teams in the locker room before the game instead.

[shel311]

Also, the idea that your boss can tell you to do something and if not you're fired is insanity

Start protesting at your job in such a way that harms your company's bottom line. Let us know how that works out for ya.

[shel311]

Rishard Matthews 1 year ago on Kaep/kneeling:

Spoiler!

Rishard Matthews now on Kaep/kneeling:

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2100 ... nal-anthem


That's one hell of a turnaround.

Rishard Matthew's is now saying he does not stand by his own statement about quitting football.

That's a hell of a turnaround to the turnaround.

[nick]

can prolly blame the CTE he has for that

[GeorgesGoons]

If they convert to certain religions, they can claim they can't stand due to religious reasons and there is no forcing them.

Also, the idea that your boss can tell you to do something and if not you're fired is insanity. Wrongful termination? My boss can't order me to dress up like a chicken and walk around work all day clucking.

The idea that we are "NFL customers" and we have the right to force them to stand as well is more craziness. They are paid to play football. I'm not paying a dime to watch the pre-game. Just like I'm paid to be an engineer so my boss can't fire me for doing a poor job parking my car in the morning outside of work.

They should go back to having the teams in the locker room before the game instead.

But if your job has a dress code of say business casual and you come into work 3 days a week wearing board shorts and a tank top, what do you think will happen to you?

[Wasted Memory]

Also, the idea that your boss can tell you to do something and if not you're fired is insanity

Start protesting at your job in such a way that harms your company's bottom line. Let us know how that works out for ya.

There are several states that are at-will employment.

"An employee can be dismissed by an employer for any reason (that is, without having to establish "just cause" for termination), and without warning."

Not sure how contacts would work into that though.

[nick]

dictatorship america. a country found on protest, cries about protest. classic.

[nick]

4. The NFL collective bargaining agreement may aid players with respect to contractual free speech. Irrespective of whether teams constitute public actors for purposes of constitutional free speech analysis, players may have certain protections against being fired for public protests under the collective bargaining agreement and their standard player contracts. Indeed, NFL players are not at-will employees, but rather are hired for a term of years. As the recent court decision in Mendenhall v. Hanesbrands explains, an athlete hired to a contract for a term of years cannot simply be fired for exercising political speech unless exercising that speech violates the terms of the underlying contract. If an NFL team wishes to "fire" a player for not standing for the national anthem (in the sense of "fire" that means not paying the player for the remainder of his contract), the team would have to show that the player's conduct violated the morals clause in the league's standard player agreement.

[shel311]

dictatorship america. a country found on protest, cries about protest. classic.

So companies in other countries would allow employees to protest while at work even when it adversely impacts the company they work for?

[nick]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/spor ... trump.html

This summer, a J.D. Power survey of sports fans reported that 26 percent of fans who said they watched fewer N.F.L. games did so because of protests during the national anthem, according to an ESPN report. But only 12 percent of sports fans said they watched fewer N.F.L. games — meaning only 3 percent of respondents over all said they watched fewer games because of protests — and 27 percent of fans surveyed said they actually watched more games than they had the previous year.

According to Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’s head of research, nearly 203 million people watched some part of the N.F.L. regular season in 2016, a 5 percent increase from the previous year. “The declines were about a growing pool of fans spending less time with the games each week,” he told SportsBusiness Journal. That suggests the ratings decline was the result of hard-core fans becoming casual ones rather than viewers tuning out altogether.

The 8 percent drop in ratings between 2015 and 2016 amounted to about 1.4 million fewer people watching each N.F.L. game on average, though ascribing a single motivation to that many people is folly. All of the above reasons, and more, are factors, and it is extraordinarily difficult to understand how important any one of them is on the overall numbers.

Across all live sports, though, it is likely that ratings will continue to drop. Viewers are continuing to abandon their cable packages, or refusing to sign up in the first place. And as more and more games become available, watching any single one loses importance. Games will continue to shift from network television to cable to internet streaming services, which are available to a smaller customer base.

[dakshdar]

dictatorship america. a country found on protest, cries about protest. classic.

So companies in other countries would allow employees to protest while at work even when it adversely impacts the company they work for?

How is this adversely affecting the NFL? All anyone is talking about is the NFL. All anyone is watching to see what happens is the NFL. People "say" they won't watch because the players are doing this, but they'll actually watch even more because they are. Remember the old Private Parts quote: The average radio listener listens 18 minutes a day, the average Howard Stern fan tunes in for an hour twenty. But the average Stern hater tunes in for two and a half hours a day."

People can say that the protesting is causing the lower ratings, but it is hardly a discrete fact that can link the two together. Ratings for many sports appear down this year (if you read up on it). Could it be that more people are cutting the cord and watching sports through other services that don't tie into the ratings system? Plus, the ratings were down immediately at the start of the season when there was hardly any chatter about protesting. So, connecting all this together now hardly seems more than circumstantial.

So, hard to say there's any adverse affect here...

[dakshdar]

If they convert to certain religions, they can claim they can't stand due to religious reasons and there is no forcing them.

Also, the idea that your boss can tell you to do something and if not you're fired is insanity. Wrongful termination? My boss can't order me to dress up like a chicken and walk around work all day clucking.

The idea that we are "NFL customers" and we have the right to force them to stand as well is more craziness. They are paid to play football. I'm not paying a dime to watch the pre-game. Just like I'm paid to be an engineer so my boss can't fire me for doing a poor job parking my car in the morning outside of work.

They should go back to having the teams in the locker room before the game instead.

But if your job has a dress code of say business casual and you come into work 3 days a week wearing board shorts and a tank top, what do you think will happen to you?

If that was a rule when I applied at least I'd know and be able to weigh whether I wanted the job.

Suddenly making up a rule that they must stand for an anthem that they didn't even come out on the field for several years ago... the union would have a field day with it.

Does anyone survey the stadium during the anthem and then kick-out the paying customers that don't stand up? Do they stop serving food and beer at the concessions stands during the anthem (not any time I've been at Dodger Stadium in the last few years)? People only care what the players are doing because they're seen doing it. And the entire purpose of protest is to be seen and gain recognition for what you are trying to have heard. If Bob Jones in Section 12, Seat 27A at Yankee Stadium was going to protest during all forthcoming games by sitting for the anthem, no one would say shit.

[nick]

its because theyre black. lets stop beating around the bush.

[shel311]

but they'll actually watch even more because they are.

As evidenced by declining ratings?

Not saying declining ratings are solely due to this but I don't know how you can say people are watching more when ratings are continually falling since Kaep first took a knee?


There are many reasons for declining ratings, hard to argue this thing is NOT one of those reasons. I mean, Direct TV is allowing folks to cancel and get a refund on Sunday Ticket if they cite this as the reason. I don't think they would be doing that if that was not what a good bit of customers wanted.

People can say that the protesting is causing the lower ratings, but it is hardly a discrete fact that can link the two together. Ratings for many sports appear down this year (if you read up on it). Could it be that more people are cutting the cord and watching sports through other services that don't tie into the ratings system? Plus, the ratings were down immediately at the start of the season when there was hardly any chatter about protesting. So, connecting all this together now hardly seems more than circumstantial.

So, hard to say there's any adverse affect here...

Survey says 30% watching less. Of that 30%, 52% say it's because of kneeling, so is it hard to say it's had an avderse effect?

http://nypost.com/2017/10/05/30-percent ... -protests/

[nick]

The study, conducted by the Sharkey Institute on behalf of Seton Hall, polled 845 US adults between Sept. 25 and 27 on land lines and cellphones. The estimated margin of error is 3.8 percentage points.

15% of 800 people are not watching. the NFL is fucked!!!

[dakshdar]

True "Nielsen" ratings are flawed regardless - do you know any Nielsen subscriber families that have a ratings box? I've never met one in my life.

Plus - surveys: oh, everyone always says the absolute truth in them rather than what they think they should say given the topic...

I don't even know when the anthem is on a broadcast - I've only seen players kneeling during highlight footage post-game.

This is all so much fucking nonsense - if they make them stand they should strike "land of the free" from the anthem during the game...

[shel311]

The study, conducted by the Sharkey Institute on behalf of Seton Hall, polled 845 US adults between Sept. 25 and 27 on land lines and cellphones. The estimated margin of error is 3.8 percentage points.

15% of 800 people are not watching. the NFL is fucked!!!

Pretty sure that institute exists solely for sports polls. You may want to call them up to let them know that you understand polling sample sizes better than they do.

I'm sure they'd be super appreciative.