• by Wayne Friedman , September 4, 2018

The ongoing national anthem controversy -- and NFL players' potential continuing protests -- might influence TV networks' ad pricing in the early part of the season.

Jeff Greenfield, COO C3 Metrics, a media measurement company, said in an email: "NFL CPMs [cost per thousand viewer prices] will likely drop in the first quarter of "Sunday Night Football" and "Monday Night Football" because large advertisers want to avoid controversy on those high-profile nights at all costs as [President] Trump will likely beat his twitter drum.”

He added: “[This] will free up the inventory surrounding the national anthem, causing CPMs to drop in that limited window. It's yet to be seen what happens to NFL ratings this year before we see major ad dollar shifts to college football."

Last season, President Trump voiced anger toward NFL players who knelt during the national anthem. He said those players should be fired.

Against sinking national TV viewership of around 10% last season, the NFL still posted a 10% gain in advertising revenues versus 2016.

National TV advertising hit $4.64 billion -- up from $4.22 billion, according to Kantar Media. Much of this gain came from increased TV advertising inventory, added because more games were broadcast nationally.

Top 10 NFL regular season in-game advertisers accounted for 32% of all national TV advertising dollars.  AT&T and Verizon Communications spent the most: $173 million each. Apple and Ford Motor were next -- $162 million.

General Motors came in at $156 million, followed by Berkshire Hathaway, $145 million; Anheuser-Busch InBev, $135 million; Samsung Group, $133 million; Toyota Motors, $125 million; and Southwest Airlines, $123 million.