It's a new era in the sports and cultural landscape, as evidenced by the results of the 2024 election and general shift away from the divisive, "woke" politics of 2020. 

The Bud Light debacle. The dramatic decline in ratings seen by the NBA, after the league gave itself over to progressive political advocacy. Backlash to Nike potentially funding a study on transgender athletes in women's sports. Major League Baseball returning the All-Star Game to Atlanta after buying into disinformation from Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams. The response to left-wing outrage over Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad. Heck, movies associated with "woke" ideology, like Disney's "Snow White," have been historic box office flops.

There's plenty more examples. In almost every case, the message from the public has been clear: stop forcing us to see your political ideology in areas where it doesn't belong. So why hasn't the NFL been forced to learn that lesson too? 

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NEW ORLEANS - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell smiles during a news conference ahead of the NFL Super Bowl LIX football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at Caesars Superdome on February 3, 2025.. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

NFL Can Get Away With Anything Because There's No Alternative

This week, the NFL announced that for the sixth consecutive season, it would force the league's teams to display some sort of political "social justice" message behind the end zones. Bizarrely, five previous seasons of this performative gesture has not seemed to solve all of society's ills. But the NFL remains undeterred. This year will be the time that racists see the "end racism" message and decide to no longer be racists. Thank you, Roger Goodell.

But it's not just that absurd virtue signaling. The NFL continues to have "Lift Every Voice and Sing," often referred to as the "black national anthem" performed before the actual United States National Anthem that encompasses all Americans of all races and ethnicities. 

Earlier in 2025, as many corporations across the country announced that they would be ending DEI programs after the election and Trump administration's crackdown on institutional racism, the NFL and Goodell proudly announced they would be continuing their discriminatory DEI programs. They still allow players to put social justice messages on their helmets, including "End Racism," "Stop Hate," "It Takes All of Us," "Black Lives Matter," "Inspire Change," "Say Their Stories."

Let alone the NFL's embrace of Pride month and the related political connotations. 

Why Does NFL Get Different Treatment?

How is this much different than the NBA? It's certainly far worse than Major League Baseball. College football teams don't engage in this type of political pandering. Yet for all the backlash and criticism the NBA has received, there's effectively silence from fans toward the NFL. 

There's no organized effort to stop watching, ratings are the highest they've ever been, profits continue to explode. There's no consequence for anything the NFL does. Several teams have introduced male cheerleaders for the 2025 season, not males that help perform acrobatic stunts as in college or high school, but males that are taking the place of female cheerleaders in traditional female cheerleading roles.

Why does none of this seem to matter to NFL fans? Simple: there's no alternative to watching it, and a huge percentage of NFL fans are addicted to gambling on it. 

The NFL has no competition, which is why, as games become increasingly boring and dominated by defense, ratings have continued to increase. Watching football all day on Sunday is a tradition, made even more important by the rapid proliferation of sports betting, whether through yearly fantasy, props, prize picks, outright gambling, or daily fantasy. Viewers and fans have no alternative to what's become a vital part of their lives from September-January. 

Baseball requires too much of a time commitment, and games are far less predictable. College football is primarily on Saturday. The NBA also requires too much of a time commitment and basketball is less popular than football. There's just no other option.

With beer, people could just…not buy Bud Light. They could just not go see "Snow White." There is no alternative to the NFL that carries much weight. The NFL's scheduling makes it easy to watch. And it's the perfect sport for gambling. And gambling makes even the most boring 13-10 Jets-Browns game with 375 yards of combined offense and a 42% pass completion rate "exciting." 

The NFL can be "woke" because there's no downside for Goodell and the league's owners. They can try to attract left-wing audiences that wouldn't normally watch it, while realizing that right-wing fans will never stop watching, no matter what. It's what economists refer to with pricing as "inelastic demand." The demand for the NFL will never change, because football is too popular, Sunday afternoons are too empty, gambling has become an indelible part of its popularity, and gambling is addictive. 

The NFL has avoided backlash because it can't have backlash. But it should. They deserve it. They more than deserve it.