Despite the string of domestic violence incidents involving marquee NFL players, the television ratings for football are up across the board. It appears the league's handling of several disciplinary cases has not hurt the sport's popularity.
"Through the first three weeks of the season, audiences watching nationally televised primetime broadcasts have risen and nearly all networks have seen an uptick in viewership so far this season," writes Eric Kelsey of Reuters.
According to Nielsen ratings data, CBS has drawn an average of 19.5 million viewers over the first three weeks of the season for its Sunday afternoon NFL games. Last season, the same slate of games took in just under 18 million.
"Sunday Night Football" on NBC has experienced a 2 percent rise in viewership, totaling 21.8 million, from last season.
ESPN's "Monday Night Football" is averaging 14 million viewers for their NFL coverage.
The boost in ratings is a welcome sight for a league that has come under increasing public scrutiny for its failure to properly address the issue of domestic violence on several recent occasions.
"I'm not going to stop watching football," said Los Angeles lawyer Conor Flahive. "Obviously, they did a bad job handling it."
Clearly, that hasn't stopped viewers from tuning in. But if the bottom line isn't affected by the concern over domestic violence, does the NFL really have any incentive to change considering business is still booming? There may be a growing distrust among fans, but it hasn't caused a decline in popularity for the league.
"Once the whistle blows, football overshadows all else," Mercury News' Elliot Almond wrote. "But despite full houses and record ratings, soul-searching football fans say the Sunday ritual no longer comes guilt-free. Many are wrestling with the conflicted feelings about their love of the game and their revulsion over the recent spate of domestic violence and child abuse cases."
Some site the league's new domestic violence policy that gives a lifetime ban for second offenders as evidence of change. Yet, the new policy allows room for "mitigating factors". Many still point to Commissioner Roger Goodell's inaction as a failure on the part of the NFL to properly address this problem.
