A $14 billion problem

NFL politics reached a fever pitch in 2017 with divided responses to player protests over racial injustice, but don’t expect the dispute to disappear anytime soon.

At the end of November, after months of quarreling, the NFL pledged $89 million over the next seven years to address the social justice issues that started the kneeling protests. But some players called the donation—which did not require players to stop kneeling—a “charade,” and protests continued through the end of the season. Team owners plan to meet in March to discuss next steps for the NFL, a $14 billion per year industry plagued with an intractable dispute.

“Collectively, the NFL does not want guys to kneel during the national anthem,” Baltimore Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson told me. “I would suspect the NFL, in some way, would not allow players to take a knee or to protest next year or in the near future if it continues,” he added, citing concerns over fan backlash and skittish advertisers.

Watson noted the NFL has no rules on player behavior during the playing of the national anthem prior to kickoff. NFL executives met in October and chose not to punish protesting players and allowed the kneeling to continue. But pressure is rising.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first protested during the national anthem to spotlight racism and social justice issues in August 2016. Other players soon joined, angering fans that found the display unpatriotic.

On Sept. 22, 2017, President Trump said the protests disrespect the American flag and argued NFL owners should fire players who kneel.

That weekend, players from all 32 NFL teams participated in protests, and some went on to kneel the remainder of the season. NFL revenues, which have doubled over the last decade, began to decline amid the furor.

Team owners plan to meet in March and could consider a rule change to force players to stand during the national anthem—a decision likely to further polarize the league.

The average audience across the league’s network partners, including CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, and NFL Network, dropped 10 percent in 2017. NFL game attendance is also down, and the league’s partners are feeling the impact.

The protests divided NFL locker rooms, too. Watson, who wrote about race relations in his 2015 book Under Our Skin, has not knelt during the anthem, but he has used the debate to encourage a dialogue about racial injustice and ways players can influence the conversation.

Several players attacked the NFL’s pledged $89 million earmark over seven years when it was announced, arguing it was too small to address the concerns raised by protesting players.

San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid, an early Kaepernick ally, left the NFL Players Coalition after the group accepted the league’s proposal. Reid told Slate he believed the NFL would redirect funds previously scheduled for other causes.

The NFL denied this. Tod Leiweke, the NFL’s chief operating officer, assured teams in a memo the funds would “supplement, and not replace, our other key social responsibility efforts.”

Some conservatives feared the $89 million would end up in the hands of liberal groups. According to Watson, the league plans to work with players to choose which causes deserve the money.

For Watson, the $89 million is a good start, not because of the amount, but because it has the potential to kick off an important conversation. “We don’t agree all the time, and that’s fine,” he said, “but at least be willing to hear why someone feels the way that they feel.”