I would also add to the argument that ratings are down because fans are continually treated so poorly by the NFL.
Look at how much money exhibition games cost! The outrageous amount of money you have to spend to park your car!
My dad has been a 49'ers season ticket holder for over 30 years, and he doesn't even get his tickets sent to his house anymore. He has to download each ticket online and print them out himself. Add to the insult that he can only print each ticket for only one game at a time, they won't let him print out all of his season tickets at once. They give him a window of 72 hours before game day to print out his tickets. What the !@#$ is that all about?!
Add on top that he and many other fans have to pay seat licenses. Then there is the crackdown that the NFL has been doing to tailgating. We know they want to do away with it.
The NFL is going after the wrong people, and they are getting sick of it.