Domestic Violence

      In July 2014, Ray Rice recieved a two game suspension from the National Football League for his involvement in domestic violence against his fiancee in February of the same year. This punishment seemed small to many fans of the league for something as serious as domestic violence. With tons of scurtiny from the fans and media, the NFL decided to reconsider their domestic violence policy. This policy changed Rice's initial two-game suspension to six games. Months passed before TMZ in September released a video-tape of Ray Rice brutally striking his fiancee in the elevator of a hotel. Once this happened, Rice was released from his team, the Baltimore Ravens, and was suspended indefinetly by the NFL. This led many people to question how seriously the NFL takes domestic violence. This shows how the NFL's violent culture can have negative impacts on how people view the NFL. For example, Kim Susser who practices matrimonial law in New York, beleieves that the violent culture the NFL has is "institutional" (Taylor). This is an example of how the public is viewing the NFL in a negative way because of its violent culture. After these events took place in September, many fans showed a disliking towards NFL officials and players. A survey by Sports Illustrated showed that out of 500 fans, only 29% thought commissioner Roger Goodell should keep his job after these evnts took place (Layden). Also 55% of these fans had a worsened opinion on Ray Rice following his admission of domestic violence (Layden). This shows a large majority of fans are starting to show a negative opinion towards the league, which could lead to a loss of fans and decline in popularity.