DirectTV Offering Refunds to Customers Protesting NFL Controversy

The NFL has been taking a lot of heat this week.  After the entire league decided to protest by taking a knee, locking arms, or staying in their locker room during the national anthem - one broadcasting company is offering to refund their customers if they refuse to watch the games this season.

Video Source: Fox Business

From KHOU, DirectTV - which carries NFL Sunday Ticket and allows fans to watch multiple games around the league - is going to allow customers to cancel their services and get refunds citing the players protesting during the national anthem as a reason.

Several NFL owners along with Commissioner Roger Goodell said they supported their players’ rights to freedom of speech.  However, others think it’s not a good move.  The satellite TV service owned by AT&T, has been the primary provider for the NFL Sunday Ticket since 1994, and earns about $1.5 billion a year in revenue.  If a large number of customers cancel their services it could hurt NFL ratings, and they've been slipping the last couple of years.

An NFL spokesman says ratings overall were up 3% for Week 3 compared to last year.  The increase was also due to the fact that last year’s Monday Night Football game was competing against a presidential debate.