HOUSTON — N.F.L. officials pointed to the country’s obsession with the presidential campaign as a big reason the league’s television ratings fell during much of the regular season.
This week, those two cultural phenomena — politics and football — are coming together again in an extraordinary, and for the league, uncomfortable way on the country’s biggest sports stage.
The Super Bowl, scheduled for Sunday night in Houston, is infused with national politics like never before. Fox’s pregame telecast will include an interview of President Trump by Bill O’Reilly. The owner, coach and star player of one team, the highly successful New England Patriots, are friends of the president’s.