Can Social Justice Statements, Protests Affect Super Bowl LV Odds?

• NFL teams have begun to make statements and protest in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake after a day filled with professional sports boycotting the same.
• The Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers who all have top Super Bowl odds were persuaded to take a day off to make a statement with two weeks before the start of the NFL season.
• This has shown that social justice protests and statements have a big possibility of happening during the regular season which could affect NFL odds.

BALTIMORE – After a historic day in sports that brought boycotts of NBA playoff, WBNA, MLS, and MLB games, the NFL saw teams cancel practice and issue statements also in response to the police shooting of a Wisconsin Black man, Jacob Blake.

Nine NFL teams chose to suspend practice Thursday with only two weeks left before the start of the season to make a social justice statement.

Two of those teams, the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers, have definite deep playoff chances and are in the top ten odds to win the Super Bowl and still chose to have a day with empty practice fields.

The Baltimore Ravens, who are tied for the shortest odds to win Super Bowl 55, were among the teams that did practice on Thursday but put out a statement to express the emotions felt and the steps that should be taken.

“With yet another example of racial discrimination with the shooting of Jacob Blake, and the unlawful abuse of peaceful protesters, we MUST unify as a society,” the statement said. “It is imperative that all people — regardless of race, religion, creed or belief — come together to say, ‘Enough is enough!’”

The Ravens then canceled the scheduled morning practice on Friday and instead had a “unifying session surrounding social justice reform."

As we have seen in the NBA, what is happening in the country has become more important to professional athletes than playing a game. There's no certainty when or how these statements and protests end and it very well can affect the odds of success on the field for these teams.

Each team that voices their opinions and takes steps to make a statement throughout the season will most likely begin to see different season odds change which will be another interesting thing to pay attention to in this already unique upcoming season.

Odds are always very fluid but with the unprecedented times and the unpredictable occurrences, social justice could have a bigger effect on the outcome of the 2020 NFL season than even imaginable.