DirecTV Offers Refunds to Fans Protesting the NFL

Nick Kangadis | September 28, 2017
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The most recent example of division in this country is causing one cable television giant to do something they’ve never done before: offer people their money back.

DirecTV is giving subscribers to their NFL Sunday Ticket package an opportunity to ask for a refund if they don’t want to watch out of market games, or any games at all, because of the recent protests by players, coaches and owners during the National Anthem held before kickoff.

According to ESPN:

Once the season starts, fans usually cannot cancel their subscriptions, but AT&T, which owns DirecTV, decided to change the policy due to the sensitivity of the issue. The price of the package, which allows fans to get out-of-market games, is about $280.

An AT&T spokesperson declined to confirm the cancellation policy and said the company would have no numbers to share.

Of course DirecTV and AT&T won’t disclose the number cancellations they've gotten, because that would just further prove that the National Anthem protests are hugely unpopular among football fans. TV ratings for NFL games are continuing to show a significant drop from last season, when unemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick was pretty much the only one kneeling during the anthem, compared to this season.

Fox News reported:

Viewership for the primetime game between the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders was down on NBC by 11 percent from the same night one year ago and 9 percent from the previous week, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The media outlet reports the game averaged an 11.6 household rating. Fox saw a 16 percent decrease in ratings for the NFL afternoon game, according to Forbes.

ESPN also reported that “roughly 180 players” didn’t stand for the National Anthem during week three NFL games.

It will be interesting to see the profit margin for the 2017 NFL season once the season is over, considering that thousands upon thousands of people are contemplating boycotting the NFL until NFL personnel begin respecting the anthem again.

Media Research Center President Brent Bozell has called for a boycott of the NFL on October 1, when the majority of the NFL’s week four games are played.

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