The National Football League’s (NFL) television ratings decreased by approximately 8% during the 2016 season, then a further 10% the following season. These declines coincided with league-wide national anthem protests initiated by Colin Kaepernick at the beginning of the 2016 season. Existing research identifies many determinants of demand for sporting events, but athletes’ protests are seldom considered. We use detailed data on players’ protests and television ratings to construct a new, game-level panel for the four NFL seasons between 2014 and 2017. Our results show protests are statistically significantly associated with lower TV ratings, but the economic magnitude is relatively muted.

美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）的电视收视率在2016赛季下降了约8％，随后一个赛季又下降了10％。这些下降与Colin Kaepernick在2016赛季初发起的全联盟国歌抗议活动相吻合。现有研究确定了对体育赛事需求的许多决定因素，但很少考虑运动员的抗议活动。我们使用球员抗议和电视收视率的详细数据，为2014年至2017年之间的四个NFL赛季构建了一个新的游戏级面板。我们的结果显示，抗议在统计上与较低的电视收视率显着相关，但经济规模相对较小。