But, we're making a dent. I do wish the tax-exemption would have ended though.....
In week 15 of the NFL season, average television viewership fell 9 percent from the same week last season, according to Nielsen, which measures television audience sizes. Week 14 was 8.4 percent lower compared with 2016.
All told, the NFL is averaging 15 million viewers per game, compared with 16.6 million last year, Nielsen reported.
The anthem protests plagued the league all season long. They also escalated into a feud between the NFL and President Trump, who threatened to end the use of tax-exempt municipal bonds to build stadiums.
An early version of the Republican tax bill eliminated this perk for sports leagues, which a Brookings Institution study estimates to cost the federal government $3.7 billion in lost tax revenue. However, the final version of the bill, which Mr. Trump signed Friday, preserved the stadium construction tax breaks.
Tumbling ratings are reflected at the national and local levels, where 25 teams are coming in lower than last year, according to Nielsen. In New York, the nation’s largest media market, ratings for the Giants are down 7 percent and Jets ratings have plummeted 37 percent. Viewership of the Dallas Cowboys has declined by 7 percent.
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