As the National Football League is in the midst of a labor lockout, and America’s most watched sport, generating over $9 Billion a year in revenue, is in a holding pattern, PR pros everywhere have to wonder – where have the league’s PR officials been?

As fans who follow the sport may have noticed, there hasn’t been much noise from the league on the dispute between the NFL Owners and the Players, their union (the NFLPA) and most importantly both party’s wallets. In the battle for which side of the locker room will get the heftiest payouts each season, the real losers here (besides the millions of fans), are the broadcast partners and advertisers.

According to a recent Adweek/Harris Poll survey of 2,124 adults in the US, there is a trend toward people being less interested in watching the NFL product once (and if) the game returns this year. While the majority – 67% – said they would continue to watch, I find it a little alarming that nearly 20% of those polled (1 in 5) said they would be less likely to watch the NFL because of the stain the lockout has left on the sport.

This begs the question: why hasn’t the league been generating positive messaging and PR to turn this around? The league has continued with business as usual throughout the dealings, including hosting the annual NFL Draft in New York last month. But what remains to be seen is how their hands-off approach to the lockout will affect the fans, the sport and the sponsors once the league resumes play (hopefully) this fall.

Check out the full poll from Adweek: http://www.adweek.com/news/television/football-fans-well-be-back-131144