The NFL owners voted on a new anthem policy at yesterday’s Spring League meetings. Under the new policy, anyone on the sideline is expected to stand for the national anthem. If players do not want to stand for it, they have the option of staying in the locker room.

If a player kneels during the national anthem, the NFL reserves the right to fine the organization, not the player. However teams will have the power to set their own policies to ensure that the national anthem is respected by all team employees on the field, including the players.

Naturally, the universal reaction to this has been negative. Many former players and members of the media have openly criticized the new policy as being unjust and a violation of the players first amendment rights.

While there are some flaws with the new policy, we all need to remember that the NFL is business. The owners voted on what was best for business. The outside world can criticize them all it wants. At the end of the day, they have a business to run and players kneeling during the national anthem is bad for business.

Let’s stop pretending like any of these professional sports leagues care about players first amendment rights regarding freedom of expression. They don’t!

The NBA, which is supposedly the most progressive of the four major sports has an anthem policy in place which requires that players, coaches and medical personnel stand for the anthem. It has been in place for years.

The NFL has always been rigid when it comes to players expressing themselves so yesterday’s ruling shouldn’t be a surprise. I don’t know why it is? The league is run by billionaire owners who are more concerned about making money than taking a stand politically. They are capitalists, not activists.

Maybe when people see that distinction, they will better understand why these owners voted the way they did yesterday.