The Corruption of the NFL by Gabby Ellrott

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Do I watch football ever? Not unless it's the Super Bowl, but I'm about to tell you how you should start to see beyond the sport.

So football. Being America's favorite, most popular sport to watch, generates views from the 64% of Americans that watch it. Let's start off with some quick facts. Last year, the NFL generated $8.1 billion dollars. A lot of money but that's because people spend their money and time on entertainment. Every October the NFL "goes pink" in support of breast cancer awareness. Since 2009, they have raised "nearly 15 million" that has gone to the American Cancer Society. Look at the numbers here. They generate $8.1 billion dollars annually and they've only donated $15 million over a decade. I'm not sure about you, but I believe they could be donating quite a bit more, considering the amount of money they're raking in. WSJ's opinion piece poses that the league seems to be "more interested in winning female fans than actually helping to find a cure." Of course they're doing it for the good publicity and to target other audiences but they could put a lot more effort in doing so. We can also ask- is a penny of this money even going to the ACS?

Besides their weak charity efforts, the main issue I wanted to focus on is the issue of race and of course, Colin Kaepernick. After starting a movement of players kneeling for the national anthem to bring awareness to the issues of racial inequality and police brutality. After all, why should anyone have to stand for a flag that represents a country filled with so much injustice and hate? After this issue, Kaepernick became a free agent but no club wanted to sign him which says a lot. How do we expect change out of this world if no one is going to stand up to fix it. Kaepernick kneeled for a community that barely has a voice, and because of it, the NFL shut him out. Again, this is so the owners and CEO's are able to maintain the happiness of the public, especially because of the amount of controversy the issue has caused.

When you aren't thinking about it, it's hard to not grab the remote to put on a football game. It's American culture and a huge part of the entertainment industry. But you should really look beyond the game and more into what you're supporting. I'm sure no one ever thinks about it but you should open your mind and maybe start to question what you're unintentionally supporting. It could make a difference.

They also don't have to pay taxes...

More info/sources
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-nfls-pink-publicity-stunt-isnt-about-fighting-cancer-1475275099
https://theundefeated.com/features/say-goodbye-to-colin-kaepernick-as-an-nfl-player/

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Comments

  1. DanielleMarch 2, 2020 at 6:16 AM

    I tend to agree that the NFL has a platform to do so much good, yet they often support players who are less than kind and I feel like they are capable of so much more.

    ReplyDelete

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