1. What is the main idea of CBS sports columnist Matt Dolloff's commentary?

2. What does the NFL organization give as the reason for the steep drop in Sunday and Monday Night Football viewership this season?

3. For what reasons does Mr. Dolloff disagree?

4. Dolloff writes in paragraph 7:

"Is the anthem protest backlash the only cause of the ratings decline? No. It is most certainly a combination of a lot of different issues. But to simply deny that there is a segment of the ever-crucial 18-49 demographic that saw the anthem protests as a “last straw” kind of moment that made them turn the channel on the NFL’s diminished on-field product is to demonstrate that you are out-of-touch with your own customers. A chunk of them, anyway."

Do you agree with his assertion? (Do you think the NFL is out of touch and/or in denial about fans' oppostion to players protesting the national anthem?) Explain your answer.

5. From paragraph 10:

"The presence of the election will inevitably cut into the numbers for every primetime program, but most NFL viewers tune in to escape politics – are they changing the channel for … politics? And does this mean that the NFL is predicting a big ratings spike the Sunday after Election Day? If that doesn’t happen, then what will they say?"

a) Do you agree with Dolloff's assertion that most NFL viewers tune in to escape politics? Explain your answer.
b) Do you think there will be a big increase in viewership the Sunday after Election Day? Explain your answer.