Kaepernick kneeling
© ReutersKaepernick kneeling during the anthem along with teammates, Oct. 6, 2016.
NFL audience so far this year has dropped by 10 percent and viewership for the iconic Monday Night Football has plunged by 19 percent.

As San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protest against police brutality inspires scores of athletes to join him, millions of pro football fans are mounting their own boycott: the size of the NFL's audience so far this season has shrunk by double-digits.

According to Sporting News online, TV ratings for NBC's "Sunday Night Football," which has been the top-rated prime-time show for five consecutive years has plunged 10 percent. In addition, viewers of CBS' "Thursday Night Football" has dropped by 15 percent from last year. These are the lowest ratings in seven years.

And ESPN's iconic "Monday Night Football", however, took the worst beating, with ratings down a whopping 19 percent.

The polling firm Rasmussen Reports earlier this month took a survey of 1000 U.S. adult citizens, where it found that 32 percent of television viewers are less likely to watch NFL game telecasts because of the Kaepernick-led player protests. Only 13 percent of people polled said they are more likely to watch an NFL game because of continuing protests.

Along racial lines, perhaps it is unsurprising that 28 percent of Black respondents were more likely to tune-in to the NFL while only 8 percent of white people said they would do the same because of the protests.