the poll that your article cites from another article. and like that article says, (which maybe is why didn't you just link the original article) Rasmussen's polls lean conservative. there is definitely some people not watching because of the protests, but there are people who are just tired of goodell and the dumb crap he pulls.
did you hit your wife? 1 game unless the public starts getting more angry about it.
smoke weed? 6 game suspension. no no, make that 8 games. or drop 20 spots in the draft.
celebrate on a touchdown? flag and a $20k fine later.
deflating some footballs in which your team was already punished for doing so but you destroyed your cell phone and now you're making me look dumb? 4 games.
all of this and the huge cte stuff the nfl wishes would go away has turned me off to watching any kind of football at all.
so... maybe the protests? i bet a large majority of those polled still watch the nfl anyways, even as i sometimes do despite my frustrations. i know a lot of fans who don't give a shit about any of the above. they just want their team to WIN.
but the fact of the matter is, the nfl product is terrible this season. it's just not very interesting at all unless you're one of the 5-1 teams