You may have undersold that a little, I think the president of the United States probably has the biggest platform in the world to mold public perception, and seeing as how the NFL skews more conservative than other leagues (like the NBA)...when he says something is wrong it has a large effect.

Also not sure why we're arguing about this, Trump is happy to take credit, the owners say he played a part in the decision making, why not just give him his due?

Edit: Yes Cheesey i agree he's not the only one at fault, the owners preferred to piss off their players (and some fans), instead of the president (and some other fans). They will pay for it (probably literally) during the next contract negotiations.

Let’s actually “call out” the people that are protesting.
As I have said many times, why do black lives only matter if a white cop is involved, when literally dozens of black people are murdered by other black people every week across this nation. Why arn’t the players protesting THAT injustice?
That is why I think the protest is senseless.
If someone has the balls to confront that fact, then the protesting would actually have meaning.

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Kevin you can be a real asshole. I said I was not trying to argue with you. Teams sell tickets. There has been no drop off in total ticket sales. You are right in that comment. But it takes no effort to see that people didn’t show up last year. I don't know if the teams release the no show totals. I didn't look for them but it takes no effort to look around the stadium and see that people are missing.

Here’s a quick sample of stories about the stadiums not packing in last year.

https://thebiglead.com/2017/09/13/the-nfl-is-seriously-concerned-with-empty-stadiums/ 

Empty stadiums are a huge deal to the NFL. Yes, the league makes its money off of TV contracts, but when fans aren’t at games it has a detrimental impact on the product. It sends the message that games are boring, uninteresting and that people don’t want to have anything to do with them in person. That kind of message hurts the product as a whole.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/11/cowboys-redskins-attendance-empty-seats-nfl-dallas-att-stadium-thursday-night-football 

That being said, Thursday’s game between the Redskins and Cowboys in Arlington kicked off in front of a mostly empty stadium. Reporters at the game certainly took notice.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DP7IYJWU8AAdBaD.jpg 


http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-ravens-tickets-20171130-story.html 

It seems paradoxical: The Ravens, who have sold out every home game since they arrived in Baltimore in 1996, are advertising tickets for Sunday’s contest at M&T Bank Stadium.
But this is where the Ravens find themselves in 2017: Contemplating the prospect of empty seats, and appealing to fans to “Win Together. Purchase your tickets today!” even as the team is contending for what would be its first playoff berth since 2014.
Thousands of fans are trying to resell their tickets to the sold-out game Sunday against the Detroit Lions at 71,000-seat M&T Bank Stadium via Ticketmaster, the team’s official resale outlet, or StubHub. Seats were available this week in almost every section; an $80 ticket for an upper end zone seat could be had for as little as $29.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21846807/baltimore-ravens-send-letter-fans-noticeable-no-shows-home-games 

The letter, which was signed by team president Dick Cass, mentions that there have been empty seats in the past when the Ravens have struggled on the field. But this year is different, with Baltimore in the midst of a playoff race.
"The numbers [of no-shows] are higher, and it is noticeable," Cass wrote in the 656-word letter. "There are a number of reasons for the no-shows, but surely the one-time protest in London has been a factor."

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/11/06/no-one-went-to-cardinals-49ers-game/ 

The official NFL.com Gamebook lists the “paid attendance” as 70,133. But the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets used are two very different things. There’s no was 70,133 people spun the turnstiles on Sunday.

On one hand, it doesn’t matter, because the tickets were purchased. On the other hand, having people not show up means that there are far fewer people to buy the overpriced food, drinks, and merchandise, which cuts deeply in to the profit margin.

Eventually, the profit margin will take an even bigger hit, because the people who are buying tickets and not coming to games eventually will realize that, if they’re not going to come to the games, they should simply not buy tickets.

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I'm your huckleberry.

The "fact" you're speaking of is a common talking point in conservative circles but its not really all that factual.

https://newsone.com/3797038/black-on-black-crime-argument-black-lives-matter/ 

“A report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that most violence occurs between victims and offenders of the same race, regardless of race. The rate of both Black-on-Black and white-on-white nonfatal violence declined 79 percent between 1993 and 2015. The number of homicides involving both a Black victim and Black perpetrator fell from 7,361 in 1991 to 2,570 in 2016.” Therefore, when a conservative brings up Black-on-Black crime, tell them to examine white-on-white crime. The issue isn’t the crime, it’s who is selectively punished.

But to quote him, He literally asked to be judged on what he said, not on what he was trying to say, I did that... I thought I made his error quite clear, and he not only doubled down but said untruths about what I was claiming.

As I'm sure you understand, lacking statutory authority and lacking power are not the same, and in some cases not close to being the same and the phrase stated was "no power".


As isocleas2 said, you undersold that, I say undersold the hell out it. You're right that no one is forced to think or act on his suggestions, but I think you also smart enough to realize that a whole hell of a lot of people are, weather they're forced to or not... the fact that people are listening and following him, (especially willingly/manipulatly) is part of ones power, and Trump has used that power better than any other President in recent times.

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AGAIN...Trump is Prez, which might give him more influence, but he can not force anybody to do what he feels is right unless it’s against the rules! (Unlike Obama, who pushed through his so called “affordable health care act” , which isn’t affordable to the poor, and was against the rules to force on the country).
Now, I guess I must be watching the wrong TV news (and no, I’m not watching Fox News) because the local Milwaukee news has blacks shooting and killing all the time. Rarely do I see whites doing it.
So, even if what you are saying is true ( which I question) the fact is, there are hundreds of blacks killed by other blacks every year in this country. Which still makes what I said 100% TRUE! Where is the outrage and protest on THAT fact? Why arn’t The NFL players protesting against black on black crime? Calling out the real criminals?

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And here I thought we were supposed stay on subject... and leave biased politics out of it. I guess you can't help yourself...

And influence is power, which was the subject... so clearly the man does have some power... and it was completely nonsensical to suggest that the most powerful man in the world has no power.


You clearly don't know very much about business, you can force someone's hand without having direct power over them. It's part of what some might call, the art of the deal.

Put enough pressure on someone and you can get them to do things they would rather not.

Didn't the concussion doctor force the NFL's hands and forced them to recognize concussion injuies even though the NFL didn't want to?

Didn't the media force the NFL to recognize the Spygate and Ray Rice incidence, which the NFL tried to sweep under the rug and ingore.

The President has just as much or more power as these guys, that have already done which you're falsely claiming can not be done.

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Wow Beast. You are REALLY reaching now. Bringing up concussion doctors and trying to equate that to a protest?
Yeah..., sitting to protest is exactly the same as TRYING TO PROTECT PLAYERS FROM PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE.
It’s amazing how hard you will try to “prove” your attempted point.
And it’s not “political” that you are (like the lame NFL) trying to put blame on Trump?
Come on...,at least be honest. You hate Trump and will do ANYTHING to vilify him.
Put “blame” for what the NFL does where it belongs, on the NFL owners.

And really, what blame is there? Is it wrong for a business to make its employees not protest on company time? NOPE!
The only negative is their lame attempt to push blame for it on the president.
Why can’t they be MEN and admit it was what THEY wanted and chose to do? I have the answer....they are spineless wimps that want to deflect any criticism they might get for their actions.
Do you disagree with THAT?
I have written over and over about it, and you just ramble on how Trump supposedly forced their hand because of some power that he really doesn’t have.
And it seems most Americans agree with me about the whole protest in the first place.
Again you ignored the whole black on black murdering that goes on every day in this nation, and just keep trying to back up your claim of how wrong I am.
Am I wrong to ask the “black lives matter” movement to do something about the daily murders of black people by black people if they want to be taken seriously?
I think all murder is horrible, no matter what a person’s skin color is.
THAT is something that should be addressed. Or am I wrong on these points too???

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You're lying again! No where did I try to equate the concussion doctors to any protest. Can't you stay on the fucking subject?

The subject brought up is the power to force the NFL to do something that they didn't want to do... and I brought up how people (without direct power) have forced the NFL to do things that they didn't want to do. You can't argue, so you're making shit up!

More fucking lies, I have not once blamed... you continue to lie about it.

Trump himself has taken credit for this... that's not vilifying... you've got your head stuck up your ass, assuming it's a bad thing... Trump himself see it has a good thing. You're the one disagreeing with Trump not me.

You're logic is quite literally horrible! I'm agreeing with Trump... and disagreeing with you... so some how I'm hating and vilifying Trump for agreeing with him? That makes no sense.... pull your head out of your ass.


The President says this is a good thing! ... do you disagree? Only if you disagree is there any blame in this, otherwise it's positive credit, which the President is taking.


1) Because that's not the fucking issue that this post addresses and we're suppose to stay on subject...

2) Talking politics in these areas are supposedly against the rules.

3) You can't seem to handle a basic disagreement on a simple subject... as you make up crap statements about things I've never said. How the hell would you then handle a more complex subject well?

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I’ve noticed that when people can’t win an argument, they often times curse and name call.
I’m not going to say any more about this.
I believe I have made my point, several times over.
You can believe whatever you want.

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