• Ratings for the Super Bowl were down, and it seems fan reaction to the National Anthem protests is partially to blame.
• UBS conducted a survey of 2,000 fans, and half of the respondents who claim to be less interested in the NFL say it's because of the protests.
• The Super Bowl still reached a massive audience, but the league's popularity will be a continuing concern for advertisers, broadcasters and investors who track sports rights deals.

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Despite a gripping game, ratings for the Super Bowl were down 7%. And yes, you can blame the national anthem protests.

At least that's according to new research issued by UBS. The investment bank surveyed 2,000 US consumers to find out why a significant number of people were watching the NFL less frequently. Turns out that 50% cited the national anthem protests as the reason. That rationale was the most frequently cited reason, and also exhibited the largest jump year over year, per UBS.

Over the past few years, a number of NFL players have periodically kneeled during the playing of the National Anthem prior to games to protest the treatment of black Americans by the police.

The protests were sparked initially by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick , who's since found himself largely exiled from the game. And this past season, President Donald Trump has spoken out frequently against the protests, which has only seemed to fan the flames among aggravated fans.

To be sure, Sunday's broadcast of the Super Bowl on NBC still delivered a massive live audience of more than 100 million people - making it the 10th largest TV broadcast of all time, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Still, the trend is concerning for the league and the TV business, as live sports are often seen as the last bastion of reliable live TV viewing. In November NBC's sales chief Linda Yaccarino warned that advertisers were considering pulling their ads off of NFL games if the networks continued to broadcast the anthem kneeling.

Among the other reasons cited by UBS for the down Super Bowl numbers:

• The matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots had less national appeal. The same matchup in 2005 was similarly low rated.
• Several fans simply reported "less interest in NFL" (which seemed to be backed up by lower ratings all year).
• Another reason that saw big growth this year in UBS' survey was people saying they "follow games/score online" - implying that a growing number of fans may simply have less interest in sitting in front of TV for three plus hours to watch a game.

Besides lower ratings being a concern for the NFL's broadcasters and advertisers, Wall Street has a reason to worry, says UBS. That's because the prices for NFL rights continue to go up, as evidenced by Fox's new five year, $3 billion-plus deal for Thursday Night Football.

"Investors remain concerned about continued inflation in sports rights amid declining viewership," reads the report.