PRINCETON, NJ -- When the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers kick off Super Bowl XXXVIII Sunday evening, football's stance as the nation's most popular sport will be renewed. A Dec. 11-14, 2003, Gallup Poll found that 37% of all Americans say football is their favorite sport to watch -- far more than any other sport.
To put this love of football in more perspective, of the top 10 highest-rated television programs of all time -- all 10 have been Super Bowl telecasts. Nearly 140 million Americans, almost half of the entire U.S. population, watched last year's game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders.
Football's Fan Base Has Grown Over Time
It wasn't always this way. In 1960, 34% of Americans preferred baseball, while just 21% favored football. However, the merger of television and football during the 1960s changed viewing habits significantly -- and by 1972, 32% of Americans picked football as their favorite viewing sport, while 24% stayed with baseball. Since 2000, baseball has been supplanted by basketball, and now just 10% of Americans say the "national pastime" is their favorite sport to watch.
| What is your favorite sport to watch? |
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| December 11-14, 2003 |
One might expect the typical football viewer to be a 30-something man plopped on his couch, with a can of beer and a bag of chips by his side. But Gallup finds a different picture:
- Men aged 50 and older are the most ardent football viewers as 52% pick football as their favorite sport. Forty-seven percent of men under 50 say the same, and while the percentages are lower for women in both age groups -- women in both groups still pick football as their favorite sport to watch.
- Overall, 26% of women prefer to watch football more than any other sport and 49% of men say football is their favorite sport to watch.
- Football has a strong appeal to most income groups. Thirty-two percent of those earning less than $20,000 annually pick football as their favorite sport, as do 38% of those earning more than $75,000 annually.
While football is the most preferred sport to watch among nearly all demographic groups, one notable exception is among race. Previous Gallup analysis shows that basketball surpasses football as the favorite sport among blacks in the United States.
Betting on the Super Bowl Less Popular Than Past Years
Based on Gallup's findings, with the exception of lottery tickets and the occasional trip to a casino, most Americans tend to shy away from gambling. However, that changes when it comes to the Super Bowl or the World Series. The December survey found that 15% of Americans had taken part in an office pool on the Super Bowl or another sporting event in the last 12 months. Previous Gallup Polls in 1992, 1996, and 1999 all found higher levels of participation, with a peak of 25% in 1999.
Betting on professional sporting events is illegal in every state except Nevada, but despite the advent of online sports betting (with its questionable legality), the percentage of Americans who said they have wagered on pro sports events has consistently dropped. In 1989, 22% of Americans admitted to betting on pro football or another professional league sport. In the December 2003 poll, just 10% admitted to having placed similar bets.
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,011 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Dec. 11-14, 2003. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
What is your favorite sport to watch?
|
2003 |
2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1998 |
1997 |
1995 |
1994 |
1994 |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
Football |
37 |
37 |
28 |
33 |
36 |
30 |
32 |
37 |
35 |
|
|
Basketball |
14 |
13 |
16 |
16 |
12 |
17 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
|
|
Baseball |
10 |
12 |
12 |
13 |
16 |
14 |
16 |
16 |
21 |
|
|
Ice/Figure Skating |
6 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
Ice Hockey |
5 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
Auto Racing |
5 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Golf |
3 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
Soccer |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Boxing |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Tennis |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
Gymnastics |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
* |
|
|
Wrestling |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
* |
1 |
|
|
Rodeo |
* |
1 |
1 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
|
|
Bowling |
* |
1 |
* |
* |
1 |
* |
1 |
* |
* |
|
|
Fishing |
* |
1 |
* |
* |
1 |
* |
1 |
* |
* |
|
|
Motorcross |
* |
-- |
1 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
|
Swimming |
* |
1 |
* |
* |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
|
Volleyball |
* |
-- |
1 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
|
OTHER |
4 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
NONE |
9 |
10 |
12 |
8 |
9 |
6 |
10 |
12 |
10 |
|
|
No Opinion |
* |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
||
|
* |
Less than 0.5% |
|||||||||
|
^ |
WORDING: What is your favorite sport to follow? |
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|
LONG TERM TREND |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
Ice/Figure Skating |
Ice |
Auto |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
2003 Dec 11-14 |
37 |
10 |
14 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
2002 Dec 5-8 |
37 |
12 |
13 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
2001 Mar 26-28 |
28 |
12 |
16 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
|
|
2000 Mar 30-Apr 2 |
33 |
13 |
15 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
1998 Nov 20-22 |
36 |
16 |
12 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
1997 Apr 18-20 ^ |
30 |
14 |
17 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
|
|
1995 Apr 17-19 |
32 |
16 |
15 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
1994 Sep 16-20 |
37 |
16 |
13 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
1994 Aug 8-9 |
35 |
21 |
11 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
1992 Sept |
38 |
16 |
12 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
|
|
1990 Feb |
35 |
16 |
15 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
1981 Jan |
38 |
16 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
1972 Oct |
32 |
24 |
9 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
|
|
1960 Dec |
21 |
34 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
* |
|
|
1948 |
17 |
39 |
10 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
|
|
1937 Mar 24-29 |
23 |
34 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
* |
Less than 0.5% |
||||||
|
^ |
WORDING: What is your favorite sport to follow? |
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