Roger Goodell spoke about the state of the NFL at Bloomberg's The Year Ahead Summit.

“People come to our stadiums to be entertained and have fun, not to be protested to,” said Goodell.

Goodell also talked about how the United States currently has a very divided society.

“I think that's one of the things I think when we have a platform the way we do people seek to find that division and I think that's something we try to resist,” he said. “And in this case I've been very clear about this — the anthem, the respect for our flag is very important. So I want to see our players stand.”

NFL players only began appearing on the field for the national anthem in 2009.