The NFL's TV ratings have become a weekly referendum on everything

The Washington Post

When the NFL season opener on NBC debuted down from last year, it drew a tweeted reaction from President Trump. When CBS' first Sunday of the season was up 30% from a year ago, Bloomberg described the numbers as a "ray of hope" for the league. As Ben Strauss points out, "the NFL’s weekly ratings can feel like a referendum on the future of TV, on America’s most popular sport and on Trump, a man with a certain fondness for ratings."