Fox Sports will no longer air the National Anthem before most football games.
They will, however, continue to air “God Save The Queen” in London.
FOX will air the anthem and God Save The Queen from the London game. No live anthem coverage today from other games. Fox statement: pic.twitter.com/DOIgzy97Qm
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) October 1, 2017
This announcement is unprecedented for the network. Last week over 200 players were shown protesting the Anthem, causing national outcry and plummeting ratings.
Fox Sports president Eric Shanks explained last week that it’s somewhat routine not to air the Anthem.
The standard procedure is not to show them because of the way the commercial format works and the timing of the anthem to get to the kickoff…So I think we’re going to pay attention to events.
Who knows what’s going to happen? …We are all on the same page in that we’re taking it in stride. This has been probably one of the more bizarre starts to the season that we have ever had . . . What we’re looking at right now is the progress that the consumption is making week over week.
Shanks also expressed his optimism for the “progress” that the NFL is making.
Some teams, such as the Seahawks and Titans, haven’t even left their locker rooms before games. Others kneel and link arms during the Anthem. It seems that fans and franchises have vastly different opinions on what “progress” looks like.