​Like Their Television Ratings, NFL Merchandise Sales Plummet to New Lows

​Like Their Television Ratings, NFL Merchandise Sales Plummet to New Lows

Things are looking very rocky for the NFL. All three Thanksgiving games saw double-digit drops in viewership from last year. On top of that, their merchandise sales have cratered, big time. It’s going to be a rough Christmas for the NFL, but there’s lots of coal for their stockings, when they aren’t knelling of course. The Sports Business Journal reports that NFL merchandise sales have fallen more than 20 percent since the 2009 recession. A number of things of course could account for part of that, but Awful Announcing stated, “some licensees feel it has to do with the National Anthem protests.” Give the guy a prize… bingo!

Some licensees are facing this alarming reality and are freaked out over it. Bill Skinner of Team ProMark said, “My NFL business has been struggling. As a veteran, I’m bothered by the National Anthem protests, so I’ve watched much less NFL.” He sells the damn stuff and is watching ‘less’ football because of the protests. That says a whole lot right there. Though, he said, “I’d be crazy to blame it on one thing: Brick-and-mortar retail is a mess, and the third parties that used to sell our products online have been largely eliminated by the league. It makes you nervous; for most of the guys here, the NFL is their most important license.”

I think the protests have a lot to do with the drop in sales. Notice how its the first thing that fans and retail sellers bring up when they are trying to explain the loss of interest in the NFL. I think it’s pretty clear that the protests are killing the NFL.

Awful Announcing writes, “One licensee did cite the oversaturation of games and lower TV ratings as a contributing factor. But perhaps it’s a combination of factors, and not just anthem protests and lower ratings. The NFL has taken hits from news about concussions, injuries to marquee players like Aaron Rodgers, the retirement of long-time merchandising stalwarts like Peyton Manning and Troy Polamalu, and non-traditional windows on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights. Holiday sales will be a litmus test for the NFL, but some licensees are worried that the league isn’t doing more to help their partners during what is the most important time for retail.”

The NFL is not helping the retailers or sponsors who help them. They are ignoring them and that will take them down even faster. All they seem concerned with lately is pushing through NFL Commissioner Goodell’s undeserved contract extension before Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones has an opportunity to thwart it at the mid-December meetings. That, and whether to keep the teams in the locker rooms during the National Anthem next season. They are not addressing their problems at all. They act as if it will just go away. It’s not and their brand is permanently damaged.

Goodell has stood by during a historic collapses in ratings, in-game attendance and now, significant drops in merchandise sales. He shouldn’t get a contract extension raising his pay from $30 million to $50 million a year, along with a lifetime private jet and healthcare for his family… he should be fired for all of this. Talk about suicidal. Most of America has now boycotted the NFL and instead of buying merchandise and tickets for the holidays, they will go elsewhere. Social justice activism has been poison to the NFL.

Goodell could resolve all of this by suspending or firing players who will not stand for the National Anthem. Doing so, would restore a lot of American faith in the NFL. Otherwise, the NFL is going to make itself extinct. No great loss.

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.

Share this!

Enjoy reading? Share it with your friends!