Many Republicans think the NFL does too much for Black players and are losing interest in the league, poll shows

The nation's relentless culture wars appear to have taken a toll even on the NFL, with a large number of Republicans saying they have soured on the league and expressing disapproval of its efforts to improve the treatment of Black players, a new Los Angeles Times/SurveyMonkey poll shows.

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The group who say they are now lesser fans is disproportionately Republican, the poll found. Nearly half of those who identified themselves as Republicans or independents who lean to the GOP said their interest as fans had declined over the last five years. By comparison, only one-quarter of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic said that.

Republicans were also significantly more likely to express disapproval of the league's efforts to show respect to Black players and to promote Black and other minority candidates for coaching jobs.

Among adults nationwide, 22% said they thought the NFL was doing "too much" to show respect for Black players. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, that number shot up to 45%. Only 5% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents took that view.

Among the Democrats, 57% said the league was still not doing enough to show respect for Black players, a view expressed by just 9% of Republicans.