Thread by @nytimes

Football players are hurting. And the sport is, too.

2 years ago, the National Football Foundation — the most powerful figures in America's most popular sport — met to craft a plan to counter the decline of a game they love. They had good reason to worry.
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A New York Times review shows that football — a sport that for a century has been a fundamental part of American identity — is in decline. It's become mired in controversy over safety and must compete harder each year with other sports.
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Even in states like Texas, home to "Friday Night Lights" and $70-million high school football stadiums, participation in football is falling. The trend is the same on the coasts, in the heartland, in the Upper Midwest, in the Deep South — everywhere.
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One clear reason why football participation has fallen: the risk of head injury.

They're twice as common during a high school football game compared to the next closest sport, a study found. In fact, a football head injury is more likely than any other injury in any other sport.

The decline is especially felt in small towns that pride themselves on football. Maiden, North Carolina — population 3,419 — calls itself “the biggest little football town in the world.”

Here’s how its football team changed from 2008 to 2019.

For the National Football Foundation, rebranding the game has become perhaps the biggest part of its portfolio. Its members include leaders from college football and the NFL, like league commissioner Roger Goodell, and legends of the game like Archie Manning.

Football remains America’s most popular sport. But the foundation felt an urgency to respond. Millions have been spent since to boost the game.

We're examining football's strong hold on America. Read our story about the campaign to keep it that way:
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