OT - Gallup Poll - Most Popular American Sport

[Doctor Worm]

Let me begin this post by stating that the poll I am citing does not differentiate between professional and amateur (college, HS, whatever) sports. Nor does it distinguish between men's and women's sports, where applicable. I agree that reduces the interest of the poll, but I think it's interesting nonetheless.

Football is still #1 by a wide margin. 37% of poll respondents said that football was their favorite sport. However this is down from a high of 43% back in 2007.

Basketball is #2 at 11%. Baseball has dropped to #3 at 9%, which is an all-time low for the sport. #4 may come as a surprise to some - it is not hockey, it is soccer with 7%, That is an all-time high for the sport, with a desirable younger demographic.

Those four add up to 64% and these are the only four specifically cited in the study. However, the study does state that 15% of those surveyed responded that their favorite sport was "None", an all-time high for that response, and one which some of us may find a bit disturbing.

http://news.gallup.com/poll/224864/football-americans-favorite-sport-watch.aspx

 

[RU4Real]

Some might say this is a flawed poll, in that it doesn't include NASCAR - which has historically been right up there with football as interchangeably 1 / 2.

 

[Doctor Worm]

Some might say this is a flawed poll, in that it doesn't include NASCAR - which has historically been right up there with football as interchangeably 1 / 2.

As far as I can tell the poll was open ended and included whatever the respondent chose to respond. In fact when re-reading the poll description, I found this:

"Only once before have at least 7% of Americans named a sport other than football, basketball or baseball as their favorite -- and that was auto racing in 1997. (Auto racing is now down to 2% of mentions.)"

 

[mikemarc1]

This is a kind of flawed poll, it seems...if they want to measure the true popularity of sports.

It’s only asking for their 1 favorite, it appears.

Just because basketball is the most favorite sport to more people then baseball doesn’t mean it’s more popular. (Since everyone who voted for football, soccer, or hockey MAY prefer baseball over hoops..you don’t know).

Same goes for the other sports.

 

[RUProf77]

This is a kind of flawed poll, it seems...if they want to measure the true popularity of sports.

It’s only asking for their 1 favorite, it appears.

Just because basketball is the most favorite sport to more people then baseball doesn’t mean it’s more popular. (Since everyone who voted for football, soccer, or hockey MAY prefer baseball over hoops..you don’t know).

Same goes for the other sports.

From a Dec 2016 Harris poll (weighted for various things) for most favorite sport among those who say they follow sports: Pro football (35%), Baseball (14%), College football (11%), Auto racing (7%), Men's pro basketball (6%), Hockey (5%), Men's college basketball (3%). All other sports came in at under 3%.

 

[FanuSanu52]

Some might say this is a flawed poll, in that it doesn't include NASCAR - which has historically been right up there with football as interchangeably 1 / 2.

But this poll is about sports.

:popcorn:

 

[RU old timer]

Millennials don’t follow teams. They follow athletes. So sports are dying because young people don’t care which teams win games. They care about Lebron, Irving, Durant, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and their fantasy teams. We live in a TMZ world. Isn’t it wonderful?! Ugh.

 

[robcac26]

This is a kind of flawed poll, it seems...if they want to measure the true popularity of sports.

It’s only asking for their 1 favorite, it appears.

Just because basketball is the most favorite sport to more people then baseball doesn’t mean it’s more popular. (Since everyone who voted for football, soccer, or hockey MAY prefer baseball over hoops..you don’t know).

Same goes for the other sports.

Agreed, should have either asked people to rank them in order, or just use range voting, where you give each choice a rating from 1-10 or 1-100 etc.

 

[robcac26]

Millennials don’t follow teams. They follow athletes. So sports are dying because young people don’t care which teams win games. They care about Lebron, Irving, Durant, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and their fantasy teams. We live in a TMZ world. Isn’t it wonderful?! Ugh.

Oh look, it's another old person making a sweeping generalization to blame some random issue on millennials. Fantasy sports and the sports media hyping up individual athletes are not new developments.

 

[mikemarc1]

This is a kind of flawed poll, it seems...if they want to measure the true popularity of sports.

It’s only asking for their 1 favorite, it appears.

Just because basketball is the most favorite sport to more people then baseball doesn’t mean it’s more popular. (Since everyone who voted for football, soccer, or hockey MAY prefer baseball over hoops..you don’t know).

Same goes for the other sports.

From a Dec 2016 Harris poll (weighted for various things) for most favorite sport among those who say they follow sports: Pro football (35%), Baseball (14%), College football (11%), Auto racing (7%), Men's pro basketball (6%), Hockey (5%), Men's college basketball (3%). All other sports came in at under 3%.

I think this poll is also flawed. Just because 35% of people list pro football as their favorite sport..no one knows where the other 65% rate it. They could put it dead last.

If all the 86% who didn’t vote for baseball...say it’s their 2nd favorite sport..I’d say baseball is more popular than pro football.

These polls measure individual people’s favorite sports..not the popularity of the Sports as a whole.

 

[ashokan]

This is a kind of flawed poll, it seems...if they want to measure the true popularity of sports.

It’s only asking for their 1 favorite, it appears.

Just because basketball is the most favorite sport to more people then baseball doesn’t mean it’s more popular. (Since everyone who voted for football, soccer, or hockey MAY prefer baseball over hoops..you don’t know).

Same goes for the other sports.

I wonder how popular AMERICAN soccer is. I think more people follow foreign/international teams. I'll watch the World Cup and the random Manchester game but I have zero interest in US teams/leagues. Only 800k people watched 2017 MLS Cup final on ESPN (English) in 2017. Around 400k watched D1 Lacrosse title game. I cant even find ratings for D1 Soccer title game (Stanford beat Indiana - not that many actually care). I don't think a sport is really popular until the title games are.

One curious thing about baseball - Yankees seems to own perp walks. I see more Yankee merch on busted people than any other team lol.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Millennials don’t follow teams. They follow athletes. So sports are dying because young people don’t care which teams win games. They care about Lebron, Irving, Durant, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and their fantasy teams. We live in a TMZ world. Isn’t it wonderful?! Ugh.

Eh...it's more about your family, IMHO, not necessarily generation. Even mine, Gen X, I was in college with kids who literally switched their allegiances to The Bulls, Lakers, whomever, due to "superstars" like Jordan, Worthy, etc., as The Sixers were fading and The Knicks hadn't begun their run. My dad is a New Yorker through-and-through, born and raised in Astoria, and is Yankees/Knicks to the core BUT became a Johnny U fan (he was a rookie my dad's frosh year at RU, IIRC) and never a big Giants fan (I'm Knicks/Yanks/Giants/Rangers). My cousin's son Chris, who is 12, loves The Yanks/Rangers/Giants, but is a Heat fan because of LeBron going there when he was just figuring things out and, once again, The Knicks sucked.

 

[famousbill19]

I wonder how popular AMERICAN soccer is. I think more people follow foreign/international teams. I'll watch the World Cup and the random Manchester game but I have zero interest in US teams/leagues. Only 800k people watched 2017 MLS Cup final on ESPN (English) in 2017. Around 400k watched D1 Lacrosse title game. I cant even find ratings for D1 Soccer title game (Stanford beat Indiana - not that many actually care). I don't think a sport is really popular until the title games are.

One curious thing about baseball - Yankees seems to own perp walks. I see more Yankee merch on busted people than any other team lol.

Here is a recent article from NYT that addresses your initial question, at least with respect to the MLS portion of it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/08/sports/soccer/mls-expansion-nashville-cincinnati.html

 

[RUBOB72]

The young fans of today still root for teams but are more likely to follow those with a player or players that is their favorite...no different than kids who loved Mays , Mantle, Snider, Musial , Williams back in the 40’s 50’s 60’s...or The greats of football and basketball in those same times...as for your “another old person comment”...remember we have gotten to that point and though time is shorter for us there are many potholes to be crossed... many ditches to avoid... so stay well youngster life can throw you many obstacles to reach the old person’s age... and if you can avoid them you too will one day take pride in being called “old”.

 

[hiwater]

Some might say this is a flawed poll, in that it doesn't include NASCAR - which has historically been right up there with football as interchangeably 1 / 2.

Yeh...NASCAR is a sport that I still don't understand, but I have a bunch of friends that follow it religeously. I go to the Bush Race in New Hampshire every year with them. One of my friends has a lake house so we spend most of the time on his boat fishing and partying. That's what I go for, and just suffer the race. It's kind of like how my wife views the football games. She loves the talegate with friends so she goes to the games for the party and just suffers the game. I'm still suprised that some of the women are really into NASCAR

The race is always the 3rd Sunday of September and the crowd size is around 90,000 fans. Everyone has head sets so they can listen to the pit crews talking to the drivers about strategy. Without the leader board I would have no idea of who is ahead. I suppose that I should know more about it by now, but I spend more time watching football games which are on at all of the souvenir trailers.

 

[Plum Street]

Soccer always had a young demographic. Kids always played soccer and I always hear that it’s growing and growing in popularity . Even all the immigrants - legal and illegal- like soccer and follow their home countries . I always hear it’s going to continue to grow here , maybe that will change as this country gets browner and kids stop playing football for health reasons. But I will believe it when I see it. Been hearing this since the 94 World Cup . I think it just is what it is. A good sport for kids to play and tune ino at World Cup time , but otherwise football reigns and basketball second.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

As kids play more video games and e-sports and less actual sports... the sports-watching public will age (like Notre Dame's fan base) and face extinction one day (again, like Notre Dame's fan base).

I think we see this trend in popular culture as well.. there was a time when the hero archetype in novels and in Hollywood was a good-looking guy, good at sports, popular.. and over time.. that has become the model of the bad guy.. the bully.. the evil greedy traitor guy.

 

[ScarletDave]

Yea they really need to have at least top-3 options. For example college football is my #1 but NASCAR is a close second. I imagine every SEC fan is the same. But all those just get counted as “football” in this poll, and then you have the old people who care about baseball and nothing else, making it seem like baseball and NBA is more popular than NASCAR in the USA, when it’s not really.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Soccer is popular due to immigration. But while soccer is popular to American youth (Soccer Moms and all of that) Americans grow out of it pretty fast.

The children of immigrants also grow out of it as they assimilate.

 

[robcac26]

Soccer always had a young demographic. Kids always played soccer and I always hear that it’s growing and growing in popularity . Even all the immigrants - legal and illegal- like soccer and follow their home countries . I always hear it’s going to continue to grow here , maybe that will change as this country gets browner and kids stop playing football for health reasons. But I will believe it when I see it. Been hearing this since the 94 World Cup . I think it just is what it is. A good sport for kids to play and tune ino at World Cup time , but otherwise football reigns and basketball second.

I did a project on this in my sport sociology class at Rutgers. Soccer has been one of the most popular sports in the US in terms of youth participation because with no equipment involved, it is relatively easy for kids to pick up and affordable for the parents, but it drops off once kids get to middle school and high school as kids start to gravitate towards sports that they see on TV and have more of a cool/popular kid factor.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Eh...it's more about your family, IMHO, not necessarily generation. Even mine, Gen X, I was in college with kids who literally switched their allegiances to The Bulls, Lakers, whomever, due to "superstars" like Jordan, Worthy, etc., as The Sixers were fading and The Knicks hadn't begun their run. My dad is a New Yorker through-and-through, born and raised in Astoria, and is Yankees/Knicks to the core BUT became a Johnny U fan (he was a rookie my dad's frosh year at RU, IIRC) and never a big Giants fan (I'm Knicks/Yanks/Giants/Rangers). My cousin's son Chris, who is 12, loves The Yanks/Rangers/Giants, but is a Heat fan because of LeBron going there when he was just figuring things out and, once again, The Knicks sucked.

This is especially true in BB given the Knicks and Nets. And was once true in CFB but we have made progress!

I do know some people who just follow Brady though. Because fantasy has gotten so big, there's definitely a cadre especially in the millennial generation (I'm a millenial) who just follow NFL for fantasy/fanboy purposes, just not as big as the LeBron fan club though.

At least for college purposes, I've never heard of anyone just following a player though.

 

[robcac26]

As kids play more video games and e-sports and less actual sports... the sports-watching public will age (like Notre Dame's fan base) and face extinction one day (again, like Notre Dame's fan base).

Just curious, do you have statistics to verify that fewer kids are playing sports? I know that participation in hockey and lacrosse are much higher than they were in the past, but I don't know about other sports.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

The young fans of today still root for teams but are more likely to follow those with a player or players that is their favorite...no different than kids who loved Mays , Mantle, Snider, Musial , Williams back in the 40’s 50’s 60’s...or The greats of football and basketball in those same times...as for your “another old person comment”...remember we have gotten to that point and though time is shorter for us there are many potholes to be crossed... many ditches to avoid... so stay well youngster life can throw you many obstacles to reach the old person’s age... and if you can avoid them you too will one day take pride in being called “old”.

Sadly, as a 30-something, I remember telling a 20-something a regretful message to your point when he mentioned my not wanting to go out drinking with the crew was lame.. said something like "when you get to my age, you let me know how you feel about it".. tragically he never would find out.

 

[Plum Street]

This is especially true in BB given the Knicks and Nets. And was once true in CFB but we have made progress!

I do know some people who just follow Brady though. Because fantasy has gotten so big, there's definitely a cadre especially in the millennial generation (I'm a millenial) who just follow NFL for fantasy/fanboy purposes, just not as big as the LeBron fan club though.

At least for college purposes, I've never heard of anyone just following a player though.

Tebow?

 

[ashokan]

I did a project on this in my sport sociology class at Rutgers. Soccer has been one of the most popular sports in the US in terms of youth participation because with no equipment involved, it is relatively easy for kids to pick up and affordable for the parents, but it drops off once kids get to middle school and high school as kids start to gravitate towards sports that they see on TV and have more of a cool/popular kid factor.

I think all the talk about people's attention spans being shorter is true. So much info and so many distractions calling out. That situation conflicts with soccer where 20 minutes can go by with nothing happening

 

[Plum Street]

I did a project on this in my sport sociology class at Rutgers. Soccer has been one of the most popular sports in the US in terms of youth participation because with no equipment involved, it is relatively easy for kids to pick up and affordable for the parents, but it drops off once kids get to middle school and high school as kids start to gravitate towards sports that they see on TV and have more of a cool/popular kid factor.

Hasn’t that been the case with soccer for the past 30 years ? I assume more people play soccer in their lives than football, but football is more popular . I would venture to guess that most of the people on this board never played organized football.

 

[satnom]

It’s funny how as a kid in the 80-90s baseball was referred to as the national pastime when in reality it hasn’t been since the early 60s. IMHO, pro football is #1, followed by college football, then pro basketball, and then baseball with soccer coming on with a lot of momentum. The MLS is not expanding just for the hell of it. In fact I predict soccer to surpass baseball interest in the US within the next five years. Don’t see NASCAR as a sport, just like I don’t esports as a sport. There is a lot of popularity and money in these “sports” but don’t put in the same category of athlete team sports or even individual sports like tennis or swimming.

The only true global sports with regards to participation are Soccer and Basketball unless you believe plugging into an Xbox and playing Call of Duty is a sport and even then those numbers don’t compare to the number of kids kicking a ball through a net or shooting a ball through a hoop in every country of the world.

GO RU

 

[Phi_1055]

Millennials don’t follow teams. They follow athletes. So sports are dying because young people don’t care which teams win games. They care about Lebron, Irving, Durant, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and their fantasy teams. We live in a TMZ world. Isn’t it wonderful?! Ugh.

For the sake of argument let's assume you are right. You're blaming millennials for the sports marketing, programming and other decisions made by older generations?

 

[famousbill19]

Soccer always had a young demographic. Kids always played soccer and I always hear that it’s growing and growing in popularity . Even all the immigrants - legal and illegal- like soccer and follow their home countries . I always hear it’s going to continue to grow here , maybe that will change as this country gets browner and kids stop playing football for health reasons. But I will believe it when I see it. Been hearing this since the 94 World Cup . I think it just is what it is. A good sport for kids to play and tune ino at World Cup time , but otherwise football reigns and basketball second.

Soccer is popular due to immigration. But while soccer is popular to American youth (Soccer Moms and all of that) Americans grow out of it pretty fast.

The children of immigrants also grow out of it as they assimilate.

The results of the Gallup poll cited in the OP appear to refute that people "grow out of soccer pretty fast". If anything, it suggests soccer is picking up viewers at the expense of baseball. By comparison to basketball and baseball:

What is your favorite sport to watch?

Age 18-34: basketball 11%; soccer 11%; baseball 6%
Age 35-54: basketball 12%; soccer 10%; baseball 7%
Age 55 +: basketball 11%, soccer 1%; baseball 14%

Access to soccer games for the 55+ crowd during their formative sports viewing years was limited to the "Soccer Made in Germany" weekly highlight show on Channel 13 ( I waited all week for this as a kid!) which is reflected in the low percentage in this demographic. With the internet and expanded cable, it is infinitely easier to watch and truly follow teams from any of the major EU and MX leagues, and I think this is reflected in the evolution of sports fans' viewing habits.

 

[Plum Street]

The results of the Gallup poll cited in the OP appear to refute that people "grow out of soccer pretty fast". If anything, it suggests soccer is picking up viewers at the expense of baseball. By comparison to basketball and baseball:

What is your favorite sport to watch?

Age 18-34: basketball 11%; soccer 11%; baseball 6%
Age 35-54: basketball 12%; soccer 10%; baseball 7%
Age 55 +: basketball 11%, soccer 1%; baseball 14%

Access to soccer games for the 55+ crowd during their formative sports viewing years was limited to the "Soccer Made in Germany" weekly highlight show on Channel 13 ( I waited all week for this as a kid!) which is reflected in the low percentage in this demographic. With the internet and expanded cable, it is infinitely easier to watch and truly follow teams from any of the major EU and MX leagues, and I think this is reflected in the evolution of sports fans' viewing habits.

Or the data shows as people get older, maybe they watch less soccer. It’s numbers , and can be spun anyway one wants .
2+2 can = 5 if it’s your classroom.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

Going to a NASCAR race at Dover,Del. is something everyone should do just to experience it. A live race is a zillion times better than watching on TV.I think there is more of a difference than even hockey. If families are looking for something closer New Egypt Speedway is a great night out too.An extra bonus at races is that most tracks let you bring food and beverages in as long as they are not glass. On a different note,has anyone ever seen Jai Alai at one of the frontons in Conn or Florida ? Never seen it live.

 

[famousbill19]

Or the data shows as people get older, maybe they watch less soccer. It’s numbers , and can be spun anyway one wants .
2+2 can = 5 if it’s your classroom.

Following this line of reasoning, would you infer from the data that the Over 55+ demographic is "discovering" baseball?

I acknowledge that a "point-in-time" datapoint is not the optimal way to support a "trend"; however, taken with the balance of the data from the Gallup poll I would not draw the conclusion that people stop watching soccer as they get older.

 

[Plum Street]

Following this line of reasoning, would you infer from the data that the Over 55+ demographic is "discovering" baseball?

I acknowledge that a "point-in-time" datapoint is not the optimal way to support a "trend"; however, taken with the balance of the data from the Gallup poll I would not draw the conclusion that people stop watching soccer as they get older.

No, but what historically has happened is people are involved in soccer at younger ages . Then grow out of it. Maybe that will stop happening and that’s what you are using this data to show . But soccer hasn’t really caught on in viewership yet . Will it happen? Maybe down the line it will. It’s a projection and I will believe it when I see it.

 

[_dave_]

I wonder how much the politicization of pro football is changing the dynamics. Sports has always been an escape. Sure there have been controversies and major demographic shifts in the athletes competing. There have been scandals. Strikes. But I have never seen people completely write off a sport because of politics before. It will be an interesting sociology project to see if the current shift is permanent and what the short and long-term changes are.

 

[Phi_1055]

On a different note,has anyone ever seen Jai Alai at one of the frontons in Conn or Florida ? Never seen it live.

Many times to Jai Alai but not not recently. Some of the frontons are beat up but if you enjoy gambling then it can be a fun night out.

 

[SkilletHead2]

Almost any study can be criticized, and alternative hypotheses can be generated for almost any set of results. But there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with asking a bunch of folks what their favorite sport is, tallying the results and calling the #1 choice the most popular sport. Especially if that sport blows away #2, as was the case here.

This study was cross-sectional rather than longitudinal, so it is difficult to draw developmental conclusions from it. But, using Occam's razor, the notion that older folks grew up with baseball and younger folks grew up with the game of soccer is a reasonable conclusion, and that that shift will continue with passing years. The notion that one shifts from soccer to baseball is simply a bit more far fetched as an interpretation.

As Skillethead Jr. once said, "Each society can only tolerate one stultifyingly dull sport, and America already has baseball, so it's hard for soccer to get a foothold." But that was 20 years ago. Could be our national snorefest could turn to soccer. I hope not because I'm a huge baseball fan. It's got the best statistics!

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Just curious, do you have statistics to verify that fewer kids are playing sports? I know that participation in hockey and lacrosse are much higher than they were in the past, but I don't know about other sports.

No. I do not have those stats.

2016 was chock full of stories about kids quitting sports by age 13.

And here is a WaPO story from 215 saying fewer kids are playing sports.

Think of how many kids only play ONE sport now compared to 30 years ago? How many of those kids.. playing on travel teams and such, how many of them might have been better at a different sport had they not specialized? How many would have been playing sports longer?

 

[BoroKnight]

First off, NASCAR was NEVER "up near football." It gained popularity for a while, but it was never, ever, remotely close to football.

And yes, following "stars" has, to some extent, replaced following teams. And yes, fewer kids are playing sports.

But I wouldn't tie playing into being a fan too closely. After all, gazillions of kids were playing soccer long before the MLS came close to making any money. Still, it has to hurt a little, especially with football, which has seen declines and will see greater ones going forward.

 

[robcac26]

I think all the talk about people's attention spans being shorter is true. So much info and so many distractions calling out. That situation conflicts with soccer where 20 minutes can go by with nothing happening

Yeah part of it is that casual sports fans don't care about the strategic aspects of a sport when they're watching, they just want to see scoring, big hits, etc, and you don't get that in soccer. I'm only a casual soccer fan, but I enjoy watching it because with scoring so infrequent, any one play can be the difference in the game. I also really like that there are no commercials except for halftime.

Hasn’t that been the case with soccer for the past 30 years ? I assume more people play soccer in their lives than football, but football is more popular . I would venture to guess that most of the people on this board never played organized football.

Probably. Just to clarify, I wasn't saying that this a new phenomenon, just that as people get older, they tend to lose interest in soccer.

No. I do not have those stats.

2016 was chock full of stories about kids quitting sports by age 13.

And here is a WaPO story from 215 saying fewer kids are playing sports.

Think of how many kids only play ONE sport now compared to 30 years ago? How many of those kids.. playing on travel teams and such, how many of them might have been better at a different sport had they not specialized? How many would have been playing sports longer?

Yeah the specialization of sports is a real problem. I work at a hockey rink so I can speak about hockey more than I can about other sports, but even though we offer spring programs and summer camps in the offseason, I encourage our customers to have their kids play other sports. It makes you a more skilled athlete and it makes you less likely to get burnt out, especially because during the season you have practice multiple times a week, then usually two games, plus the occasional clinics and even private lessons. There is pretty much no time for just good old-fashioned unstructured pick-up games with friends anymore.

One of my college roommates told me once that his high school team's goalie (Montgomery HS) went on to play D1 NCAA for UMass, so he was playing against guys who are now in the NHL, and he said that there was a forward on their high school team that was better than anyone he played against in college, but that kid quit after high school because he just wasn't having fun anymore. Similarly, there used to be a guy at our rink that had his two sons (8 and 10 years old) homeschooled so that he could bring them to our place every single day for private lessons. The kids were miserable on the ice because the dad was leaning over the boards screaming at them during their lessons. He showed us a video once of his kids training at home, he had them running on treadmills with oxygen masks and everything. Not even in middle school yet. I'll be surprised if they don't quit hockey as soon as they can make that decision on their own. Terrible.