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- Jul 27, 2005
This is VERY surprising to me, to say the least. Another big point is that the MLB became more popular in the last year while the NFL's popularity has declined a ton. I wonder why?
Article:
[h1]Pro Football Continues Popularity Among U.S. Sports Fans[/h1]
Published January 25, 2011
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Nearly three in 10 Americans who follow at least one sport said that pro football is their favorite sport, according to data from the Harris Poll. Seventeen percent chose baseball as their favorite sport, narrowing the gap slightly from last year when more than 35% of sports fans said pro football was their favorite sport, compared to 16% who said it was baseball. The most recent poll also found that 12% of respondents said college football was their favorite sport, while 7% chose auto racing. Two sports from the most recent poll -- women's pro basketball and women's college basketball -- were not listed as the favorite sports of any fans. Since the Harris Poll first began asking this question in '85, pro football has increased 7% and baseball has fallen 6% (Harris Interactive).
[table][tr][td]
FAVORITE SPORTS AMONG U.S. FANS
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]
SPORT
[/th][th=""]
'10
[/th][th=""]
'09
[/th][th=""]
'08
[/th][th=""]
'98
[/th][th=""]
'85
[/th][th=""]
% CHANGE
('85-10)
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
Pro football
[/td][td]
31%
[/td][td]
35%
[/td][td]
31%
[/td][td]
26%
[/td][td]
24%
[/td][td]
7%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Baseball
[/td][td]
17%
[/td][td]
16%
[/td][td]
16%
[/td][td]
18%
[/td][td]
23%
[/td][td]
-6%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
College football
[/td][td]
12%
[/td][td]
12%
[/td][td]
12%
[/td][td]
9%
[/td][td]
10%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Auto racing
[/td][td]
7%
[/td][td]
9%
[/td][td]
8%
[/td][td]
7%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Men's pro basketball
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
13%
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
0%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Hockey[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's soccer[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's college basketball[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
-2%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's golf[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
-1%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Track & field[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
0%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Bowling[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
-1%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's tennis[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
-3%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Boxing[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Horse racing[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
-3%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's tennis[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Swimming[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's pro basketball[/td][td]
0%
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's soccer[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's college basketball[/td][td]
0%
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's golf[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Not sure[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td] [/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][/tr][/table]
NOTES: * = Result was less than 0.5%. N/A = sport was not among answers during that year's question.
Link: http://www.sportsbusiness...esearch/Harris-Poll.aspx
Article:
[h1]Pro Football Continues Popularity Among U.S. Sports Fans[/h1]
Published January 25, 2011
Font Size Resize Small Resize Normal Resize Large | Print | Share
Nearly three in 10 Americans who follow at least one sport said that pro football is their favorite sport, according to data from the Harris Poll. Seventeen percent chose baseball as their favorite sport, narrowing the gap slightly from last year when more than 35% of sports fans said pro football was their favorite sport, compared to 16% who said it was baseball. The most recent poll also found that 12% of respondents said college football was their favorite sport, while 7% chose auto racing. Two sports from the most recent poll -- women's pro basketball and women's college basketball -- were not listed as the favorite sports of any fans. Since the Harris Poll first began asking this question in '85, pro football has increased 7% and baseball has fallen 6% (Harris Interactive).
[table][tr][td]
FAVORITE SPORTS AMONG U.S. FANS
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]
SPORT
[/th][th=""]
'10
[/th][th=""]
'09
[/th][th=""]
'08
[/th][th=""]
'98
[/th][th=""]
'85
[/th][th=""]
% CHANGE
('85-10)
[/th][/tr][tr][td]
Pro football
[/td][td]
31%
[/td][td]
35%
[/td][td]
31%
[/td][td]
26%
[/td][td]
24%
[/td][td]
7%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Baseball
[/td][td]
17%
[/td][td]
16%
[/td][td]
16%
[/td][td]
18%
[/td][td]
23%
[/td][td]
-6%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
College football
[/td][td]
12%
[/td][td]
12%
[/td][td]
12%
[/td][td]
9%
[/td][td]
10%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Auto racing
[/td][td]
7%
[/td][td]
9%
[/td][td]
8%
[/td][td]
7%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]
Men's pro basketball
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
13%
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
0%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Hockey[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's soccer[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's college basketball[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
6%
[/td][td]
-2%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's golf[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
-1%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Track & field[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
0%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Bowling[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
-1%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Men's tennis[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
5%
[/td][td]
-3%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Boxing[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Horse racing[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
4%
[/td][td]
-3%
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's tennis[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Swimming[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's pro basketball[/td][td]
0%
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's soccer[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's college basketball[/td][td]
0%
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Women's golf[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Not sure[/td][td]
3%
[/td][td]
2%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
1%
[/td][td]
*
[/td][td]
N/A
[/td][/tr][tr][td] [/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][td]
[/td][/tr][/table]
NOTES: * = Result was less than 0.5%. N/A = sport was not among answers during that year's question.
Link: http://www.sportsbusiness...esearch/Harris-Poll.aspx