Three in ten Americans who
follow at least one sport (31%) say professional football is their
favorite sport while 17% say baseball, according to a Harris Interactive. This is a narrowing of the gap
from last year when over one-third (35%) of sports fans said
professional football was their favorite sport and 16% said it was
baseball.
The company surveyed some 2,331 adults online between Dec. 6 and 13, 2010.
Looking
at how other sports fared, just over one in ten sports fans (12%) say
college football is their favorite sport while 7% say it is auto racing,
6% say men's professional basketball, 5% say hockey, and 4% each say
men's soccer and men's college basketball. Most other sports are
favorites for 2% or less of sports fans. Two sports however, women's
professional basketball and women's college basketball, are not
favorites for any sports fan.
There are some fluctuations in
favorites over time. Since this question was first asked in 1985,
professional football has gone up 7 points from 24% of sports fans
saying it was their favorite sport then to 31% saying so now. Baseball,
on the other hand, has gone down 6 points from 23% in 1985 to 17% today.
Who likes football and baseball – and who really doesn't
When
it comes to the top sports, different groups are more likely to cite
them as favorites. African Americans (45%), Baby Boomers (aged 46-64)
(37%), and Easterners (34%) are more likely to say professional football
is their favorite sport while Echo Boomers (aged 18-33) (23%),
Hispanics (26%), and Midwesterners (26%) are less likely to do so. When
it comes to baseball, Matures (those 65 and older) (21%), Hispanics
(20%), and those with a high school or less education (20%) are more
likely to cite it as their favorite sport. African Americans (6%),
those with some college education (12%) and Echo Boomers (13%) are least
likely to say baseball is their favorite.
So What?
While
football may be the favorite sport, there is a decline in popularity
from last year. And, with the possibility looming of a player's lockout
after this season ends, will fans stay loyal? In 1987 there was a strike
and the popularity of the sport didn't suffer any lasting damage. And
all the major sports have been hit by labor disagreements over the past
two decades, including the canceling of the World Series in 1994 and the
Stanley Cup in 2005. What if there was no Super Bowl in 2012? Football
will most likely survive, but that one day event is so different than
both the hockey and baseball championships. Could you imagine no Super
Bowl commercials?
|
TABLE 1 FAVORITE SPORT “If you had to choose, which ONE of these sports would you say is your favorite?” Base: All adults who follow one or more sport |
|||||||||
|
1985 |
1989 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1997 |
1998 |
2002 |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
Pro football |
24 |
26 |
28 |
24 |
24 |
28 |
26 |
27 |
|
|
Baseball |
23 |
19 |
21 |
18 |
17 |
17 |
18 |
14 |
|
|
College football |
10 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
|
|
Auto racing |
5 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
10 |
|
|
Men's pro basketball |
6 |
7 |
8 |
12 |
11 |
13 |
13 |
11 |
|
|
Hockey |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
Men's soccer |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
|
|
Men's college basketball |
6 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
Men's golf |
3 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
Track & field |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
Bowling |
3 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Men's tennis |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
|
|
Boxing |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
|
|
Horse racing |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| ||
