There are a number of NFL owners that are greatly concerned and fearful about Vermont Senator and current Democratic nominee frontrunner Bernie Sanders’ winning the nomination, according to Sports Illustrated.
Per the Sports Illustrated report:
“…some in the league worry, in the short term, about what Bernie Sanders’s winning the Democratic nomination might do to the stock market and how that would affect the environment to do business. If the NFL is bound for a lockout in 2021, will the money be the same? Then, there’s the fact that the NFL itself is bracing for the election to do damage to its ratings, as was the case in 2016.”
The current NFL/NFLPA labor agreement expires after the 2020 season, with the current term of NFL’s “Monday Night Football” deal with ESPN expiring after 2021.
The NFL is also bracing itself for a major television ratings hit during the 2020 election cycle, same as it did in 2016 as ratings slumped in that year and the next.
NFL owners are also trying to push for an expanded regular season and postseason, most notably, teams playing 17 games instead of the customary 16 that fans have been accustomed to.
