Boycott the NFL? No Plan, No Players…No Chance
by Richard Rogers
August 18, 2017
There’s been growing talk on social media and other outlets about a boycott of the NFL, primarily over the Colin Kaepernick situation. There are many people who are frustrated with how he has been treated and seemingly “blackballed” from a career in the NFL. Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched Kaepernick be passed over for a retired oft-injured quarterback in Jay Cutler and a CFL quarterback who played all of three snaps in college. This situation has many ready to unplug the NFL for good.
But what would a boycott really mean? A boycott is much more serious, and requires a lot more planning than just a flick of the remote control. Historically, boycotts are initiated to put financial pressure on an organization forcing them to make some sort of a change. It requires much more than social media chatter and want-to. First, you need a cause, an issue, and a wrong that must be made right. Colin Kaepernick is being shut out because of his controversial anthem protest, so there’s a cause, but is it the right one? Boycotting a leviathan like the NFL because they won’t give a player a job is just a smaller issue. The bigger issue is the matter that Kaepernick was protesting in the first place, the use of excessive force by police. I’m afraid that’s a matter bigger than boycott of America’s most popular game. The NFL is about money, lots of it. Owners have a lot of it, a few players have a lot of it, but most have a little of it. Sponsors pay the NFL and advertising and TV deals keep the lights on and the players paid. Here’s a lesson in Boycotting 101. To make a change, hit em’ where it hurts. The problem is WHO do you hit? Who do you boycott? The NFL has multiple revenue streams. Do you stop buying merchandise? Do you cancel your Red Zone subscription? Do you pull your kid out of sports leagues sponsored by NFL Play 60? Where does it start? Where does it end?
Look, I’m not against any organized, functional act of resistance to promote change if there’s an end to a means. For a boycott to work, you’d need more than just the African-American community to care. In fact, you’d need ALL the African-American community that support the NFL to be united, and yet, in my opinion, it still wouldn’t be enough. The “trump” card (no pun intended) is the NFL player. If you think the NFL cares about African-American viewers boycotting the NFL, you’re misguided. Now, if the PLAYERS decide that enough is enough and decide collectively not to play, then you’d have their attention. You can’t launch a boycott while the most important commodity continues to provide a revenue stream. It would never work.
It’s encouraging dialogue that many people are willing to unite around a cause they believe in. It just needs to be one you can win. If you don’t get the players on the bus, a boycott will bust.