Last month, President Trump sent out this tweet:

You don’t have to be a fan of professsional football to know that President Trump has been locked in a war of words with the NFL for nearly two years.

The league drew the president’s ire in 2017, when some players began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality. The president says the protesters are disrespecting the flag and U.S. service members.

We know this is a divisive issue. Half of the country comes down on one side… and half on the other.

But here’s the thing…

Whether you agree with the president’s stance or not, he’s right about one thing: The NFL is in trouble.

Regular readers know we don’t like to get into political controversies. And we’ll let the talking heads on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News debate the merits of athletes protesting during the national anthem.

But we do like to get into a money-making opportunity when we see one. And President Trump’s tweet is leading us to a huge one.

Before we get to this new trend, let me show you why The Donald is right about the NFL…

These Two Trends Will Hurt the NFL

The NFL is still the most popular sporting league in America. But it’s facing a couple of major headwinds: declining ratings and declining youth participation.

The most immediate concern is the league’s declining ratings.

  • Ratings decline

The TV audience for the September 6 season opener between the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons was down 13% from last season’s opening game between the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The total audience was the lowest for any kickoff game since 2009.

Overall, ratings declined 10% during the 2017–18 season. And analysts expect an even bigger drop this season.

As President Trump tweeted, player protests seem to be part of the problem.

A 2016 study by polling firm Rasmussen Reports found that 32% of viewers are “less likely to watch an NFL game” due to players taking a knee and protesting the national anthem. And just 13% want to watch a game because of the protests.

Now, don’t get us wrong… NFL games are still some of the most widely watched events on television. Millions tune in every night to cheer for their favorite teams. The league won’t vanish from TV anytime soon.

But the trend is clear: Ratings are in decline.

And that’s not even the biggest problem the league faces…

  • Youth participation decline

One of the most important metrics to look for when forecasting the growth of a sport is youth participation—the players who will turn professional one day.

According to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations, youth participation in football is down 3.5% over the past five years.

Another study by the Aspen Institute think tank found youth participation in team sports like football is down nearly 10% over the past decade.

The studies cite fear of injuries (particularly brain injuries) and the rising costs of training and equipment as two main reasons for the participation decline.

And this isn’t just some academic claptrap.

Even former players like Troy Aikman, Bart Scott, Terry Bradshaw, and Jermichael Finley have said that they wouldn’t let their sons play football today.

Decreasing youth particpation will cause a secular decline in the popularity of football. There’s no doubt about it.

So what new sport stands to benefit?

The Rise of Esports

At the Daily, we’ve been following President Trump’s tweets to profitable opportunities for more than a year.

We’ve used this strategy to successfully bet on financials in February 2017… biotech in March 2017… and steel and coal in June 2017. More recently, in August 2018, we showed you how to play the president’s trade war tweets for profits.

Today, we’re following him to a new profitable trend… one that will eventually replace football as America’s most popular sport.

And that’s electronic sports (esports).

Esports are a form of competition using video games. Most competitions are organized and multiplayer. And these guys are professionals…

Take League of Legends, for example. It’s a competitive multiplayer battle arena game.

According to video game developer Riot Games, more than 173,000 live spectators attended the League of Legends World Championship in Katowice, Poland last year. And 86 million unique viewers watched it online. To put that into perspective, 103.4 million people watched last season’s Super Bowl on television.

Today, video gaming is a $137.9 billion industry, with esports being a rapidly growing part of it. And it’s expected to grow 24.4% annually through 2021.

Fan interest is also high. Last year, over 380 million people per year watched these events. (For comparison, 17.3 million people attended live NFL games in 2017.) This audience will only get bigger as more young people move from traditional team sports to esports.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you think esports are just a passing fad—something only played by young guys in their parents’ basements.

But nothing could be further from the truth…

According to the Pew Research Center, 60% of males between the ages of 16 and 29 play video games. And they tend to be lifelong gamers… The same study showed that 53% of men between the ages of 30 and 49 continue to play video games.

President Trump is right, and the writing is on the wall: The NFL is in secular decline. Meanwhile, esports are on the rise.

In tomorrow’s Daily, I’ll show you some ways to play this exciting new trend. Stay tuned…

Regards,

Nick Rokke
Analyst, The Palm Beach Daily

P.S. The protesting during the national anthem isn’t the only divisive issue tearing apart the nation. According to Palm Beach Letter editor Teeka Tiwari, 13 states—including Texas, California, and New York—are ready to secede from America.

But this “Second Confederacy” has nothing to do with slavery. And there will be no civil war. You can read Teeka’s urgent briefing right here…

Meanwhile, do you think every patriotic American should take a stand against the NFL by joining the rising and profitable tide of esports? Let us know right here…

MAILBAG

The debate over our recent website redesign continues…

From Paul K.: I have to agree with Brian M. [see Monday’s Mailbag] and his comments about the new website design. The content and formatting are terrible. It takes way too many clicks to reach the needed info. 

Everything is one color (black and white), and nothing stands out to separate the different content. It would have been much better to alert your members upfront that a redesign was coming and ask for feedback and suggestions prior to implementation.

As an Infinity member, I’m very disappointed in your process and the current end-result of the website.

From Stefan M.: The previous web format was much better. The new one is not user-friendly. Just my two cents.

From Shawn S.: Responding to Brian M.’s comments… I have no idea what he’s talking about. The new format looks great.

In the Palm Beach Confidential section, the Crypto Corner layout is very good. And the video series overall is excellent! I don’t know how the average person starting out buying cryptos does it without them.

The only thing that doesn’t seem intuitive to me is that when you log in, it seems like the Daily should be at the top of the website.

How do you feel about our new website redesign? Let us know right here…

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

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That’s why we made a special “livestream” available so that you can watch the entire conference from the comfort of your own home.

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