Fox Sports has announced that they will no longer air the national anthem before NFL games. The decision comes after more than 250 players took a knee for the national anthem during last week’s games.
The sports network decided they will make an exception for NFL games in London where they will broadcast both The Star Spangled Banner and God Save the Queen.
“As we have in previous broadcasts of NFL games from London, Fox will show the National Anthem as well as God Save the Queen live. As is standard procedure, regionalized coverage of NFL game airing on FOX this Sunday will not show the National Anthem live; however, our cameras are always rolling and we will document the response of players and coaches on the field,” Fox said in a press release.
Fox Sports President Eric Shanks says that it’s network policy to avoid live pre-game ceremonies due to “agreements with sponsors.”
“The standard procedure is not to show [the anthem] because of the way the commercial format works and the timing of the anthem to get to the kickoff,” Shanks said in a press statement. “So I think we’re going to pay attention to events.”
In the Sports Illustrated video below Warren Sapp discusses what impact the protests have had on the current NFL season.