The current trends are not looking good for the NFL. The league is used to commanding huge prices for its commercial time, because it was a guarantee that people would see the ads. Just think of how much Super Bowl ads are promoted and cost.

But after setting records last season, viewership is crashing this season.

While the number of streaming viewers has increased – last night’s game attracted 262,000 average minute viewers on digital platforms, a 23% increase from last year – total viewership is still trending downward. Last week’s Monday Night Football game unsurprisingly got clobbered in the ratings thanks to the presidential debate. That game drew a 5.7 overnight rating, the lowest in MNF history.

So, what is going on here? I have a few theories.