The NFL has a crystal ball of sorts with the University of Missouri. Think back two years ago when Mizzou was the epicenter of race-baiting campus protests. Today, the university is in financial trouble and its football program is failing. If the NFL wants to catch a glimpse of its own future, look no further than what has befallen Mizzou.

What a difference just two years makes. Thanks to Black Lives Matter protests taking over the campus, Mizzou earned itself a financial deficit with freshmen enrollment dropping 35 percent. The school was forced to shut down seven of its dorms and laid off over 400 employees. Millions of dollars stopped pouring into the football program almost overnight. To make ends meet, rooms in the nearly empty dorms are rented out as hotel rooms for the few who still want to watch the Tigers play football. Which, by the way, isn’t very exciting, seeing as the team gets pounded nearly every game. That’s the result of the Mizzou football team threatening to quit playing unless the university president stepped down over all the racism allegations.

Mizzou willfully admits that the campus-wide protests are to blame for the school’s failures. There are two factions that are avoiding Mizzou: those that don’t want to attend a school prone to massive protests and minorities who think the school won’t have their backs. In fact, the 35% drop in enrollment is mostly among black students.

There are many parallels between what happened at Mizzou and what is likely to happen for the NFL. As players, coaches, and owners continue grandstanding against the U.S. flag and President Trump, fans are walking away in droves. As sports becomes political, people are not tuning into games and are burning their favorite team’s gear. Subscriptions to watch the games have dropped and attendance at pro games will continue falling. But it appears this is what they want, so, they shouldn't be surprised when they suffer the same fate.

H/T James Barrett