The National Football League has been in trouble for a while, but a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll illustrates just how bad things really are. Within a four-year period, men aged 18 to 49 who say they "closely" follow the NFL has dropped from 75 percent to 51 percent. That represents a major chunk of the sport's main demographic.
"If I'm the NFL I'm freaking out about that a little bit," said Republican pollster Micah Roberts. "They are the very core of the football-viewing audience. If they're retreating, then who's left?"
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