Despite the NFL’s promise to spend nearly $90 million to promote “social justice” campaigns, players are still kneeling in protest against the country during the playing of the national anthems, and along with the protests, the league’s TV ratings are still cratering.
Plus, as we’ve seen all season, fans are avoiding the NFL by refusing to attend games in person as well, leaving tens of thousands of empty seats in stadiums all across the nation.
As the Cleveland Browns took on the Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium, empty red-backed seats called out to the cameras testifying to a dearth of fans all over the facility.
Even MSNBC’s own Hugh Hewitt jumped to Twitter to remark on the sad state of affairs in Cleveland.
Cleveland lost in attendance and in points, taking a knee to the Ravens in a 27-10 final.
Perhaps with a bit better attendance than Cleveland, the Washington Redskins beat the Cardinals at home in FedEx Field in a 20-15 final, but Redskin fans didn’t come out in force.
The Philadelphia Eagles traveled to MetLife Stadium to face the New York Giants and won, beating the New Yorkers 34-29. But, not as many fans as the Giants would have liked made the trek to the stadium.
Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers announced that this weekend’s game against the Green Bay Packers at Bank of America Stadium was a sell out. While those seats may have all been paid for, there were plenty of empty seats filling Twitter. At least the Panthers won in a 31-24 final.
Finally, at EverBank Field, the Jacksonville Jaguars swamped the Houston Texans 45-7, but photos of the stadium show a lot of empty seats.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.