New Harris Poll Released. NASCAR More Popular Than The NBA

[mrmundaynite]

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

 

[ultralightbeam]

SMH @ David Stern.

 

[damnitzdom]

Horse racing over womens sports 

 

[bigpunoy]

I think the decline in popularity of the NBA (from '98 till now) can be said in one word, "JORDAN". Now I won't say he's the absolute reason as the league has way too many crappy teams that no one outside of their respective cities care about. I remember during the 80's/90's every team having at least 1 or 2 superstars that made them watchable.

I don't know what could point to the decline in the NFL's popularity from last year to this year. I find it interesting they didn't include MMA as that has seen a huge increase in viewers, which would be my conclusion.

 

[bijald0331]

Flawed survey and conclusion. NBA is way more popular than NASCAR. NBA is a lot of people's 2nd and 3rd favorite; NASCAR isn't.

 

[ultralightbeam]

^ You're sleeping on NASCAR, bijald.

 

[stillin729]

NBA sucks, I barely watch basketball anymore, last good season was 2000-01 IMO

they should take a page from the NHL as they slowly gain popularity instead of continuing to regress

the NBA draft doesn't help either, people can't relate to players the majority haven't followed through college like they used to

 

[julian wright]

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

^ You're sleeping on NASCAR, bijald.

That $%*% will put anyone to sleep.

 

[stillin729]

Originally Posted by bijald0331

Flawed survey and conclusion. NBA is way more popular than NASCAR. NBA is a lot of people's 2nd and 3rd favorite; NASCAR isn't.

your opinion is not fact but keep thinking that

 

[stillin729]

once again Niketalk can't separate the small bias of this message board into the actual real world picture

Niketalkers live in a bubble

I hate Nascar but it's far more popular than the NBA

 

[ultralightbeam]

Originally Posted by Julian Wright

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

^ You're sleeping on NASCAR, bijald.

That $%*% will put anyone to sleep.

I HATE NASCAR but to act like the 'sport' doesn't have a huge following is ignorant. 

 

[vezon]

I just don't get it. What is so interesting about NASCAR? Someone please explain. I'm dead serious.

 

[Mark Antony]

Isn't it like the world's largest spectator sport? why is this surprising?

 

[bijald0331]

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

Originally Posted by Julian Wright

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

^ You're sleeping on NASCAR, bijald.

That $%*% will put anyone to sleep.

I HATE NASCAR but to act like the 'sport' doesn't have a huge following is ignorant. 

NEVER said that. 
This survey shows you intensity of the followers of a sport. If you like NASCAR, you are a big fan, most likely. In totality, I'd say the NBA has a bigger following than NASCAR. It is more popular but the average fan interest is not as intense as it is in NASCAR. 

 

[north dade represent]

Originally Posted by bijald0331

Flawed survey and conclusion. NBA is way more popular than NASCAR. NBA is a lot of people's 2nd and 3rd favorite; NASCAR isn't.

Basically. A lot of those NFL and MLB fans follow the NBA, whereas a lower % of those fans follow NASCAR.

 

[mrmundaynite]

Originally Posted by bijald0331

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

Originally Posted by Julian Wright

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

^ You're sleeping on NASCAR, bijald.

That $%*% will put anyone to sleep.

I HATE NASCAR but to act like the 'sport' doesn't have a huge following is ignorant. 

NEVER said that. 
This survey shows you intensity of the followers of a sport. If you like NASCAR, you are a big fan, most likely. In totality, I'd say the NBA has a bigger following than NASCAR. It is more popular but the average fan interest is not as intense as it is in NASCAR. 

I still feel like people are underestimating how big NASCAR really is.

 

[airmaxpenny1]

Originally Posted by bijald0331

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

Originally Posted by Julian Wright

Originally Posted by i LyricaLJKilla i

^ You're sleeping on NASCAR, bijald.

That $%*% will put anyone to sleep.

I HATE NASCAR but to act like the 'sport' doesn't have a huge following is ignorant. 

NEVER said that. 
This survey shows you intensity of the followers of a sport. If you like NASCAR, you are a big fan, most likely. In totality, I'd say the NBA has a bigger following than NASCAR. It is more popular but the average fan interest is not as intense as it is in NASCAR. 

QFT

 

[kash55]

This shouldn't surprise you at all. NASCAR is huge in the south, the attendance they get is massive.

 

[Sinner]

Originally Posted by Mark Antony

Isn't it like the world's US's largest spectator sport? why is this surprising?

Outside the US, I don't believe there's a huge following for NASCAR.  Just speculating.  

 

[IATT]

this year has been the goods.. i'll admit the past few seasons haven't been that great.. but now you have so many decent/good teams and players, every week there are decent/good/great games


now my personal feeling is that the NBA needs to cut down on the number of games (same as MLB) AND the number of playoff teams (obviously not the same for the MLB)


football should be used as a model (even if they go to an 18 game schedule).. although, i would suggest that the NFL have thursday night games and 2 monday night games all season

 

[chrome vapors]

Auto Racing ≠ NASCAR

Now that that's out the way, NASCAR and auto racing in general are niche sports most places in the US.

As someone else pointed out someone who fallows NASCAR is more likely to be a die hard fan than someone who fallows baseball, football, basketball or even hockey as mainstream interest in those sports is distributed around. Same goes for soccer. You really think the margin in overall popularity between soccer and basketball is that small? Not yet, the number of die hard fans? Sure.

And that's exactly what this poll measures, die hard interest NOT popularity.

If you gathered 1000 people from every region in the country, I guarantee more people would be able to tell you the name of the reigning NBA champion than the reigning Sprint Cup champion.

NASCAR is gaining popularity surely but it hasn't surpassed the NBA yet. MLB and the NBA should be worried though. NASCAR, NHL, MLS, International Soccer, and MMA are all on the rise. The American sports pie has long been dominated by the big three/four but that's going to change during our lifetime.

 

[dmbrhs]

Originally Posted by BigPUNoy

I think the decline in popularity of the NBA (from '98 till now) can be said in one word, "JORDAN". Now I won't say he's the absolute reason as the league has way too many crappy teams that no one outside of their respective cities care about. I remember during the 80's/90's every team having at least 1 or 2 superstars that made them watchable.

Jordan has very little to do with it. The league became very diluted from the late '80s into the mid '90s. They added six teams in an eight year span, talent got dispersed. Add in bloated contracts (including those for rookies) and the quality of play went down. The game also slowed down to the point it was damn near unwatchable. And not every team had one or two superstars.

The rookie pay scale saved the NBA, as well as the one-year rule (the full effect remains to be seen). The amount of talent in the league right now is the best it's been since before the lockout. The problem is, casual observers still think Allen Iverson is sitting in the press room, tatted up, talkin' 'bout practice.

 

[winged wheel]

Originally Posted by StillIn729

once again Niketalk can't separate the small bias of this message board into the actual real world picture

Niketalkers live in a bubble

I hate Nascar but it's far more popular than the NBA

Came in here to say this.

 

[deuce king]

I'm not a NASCAR fan myself but it's clear to see that alot of folks in here have no idea how big NASCAR is.  I went to my first race last year and the event itself was bigger than I thought it would be.  80,000 plus fans on any given weekend is no joke, not to mention all the marketing dollars and corporate sponsors are apart of NASCAR.  If you haven't been, I suggest you go to a race, just for the experience.  It really doesn't surprise me that NASCAR is ahead of the NBA in that survey.   

 

[scott frost]

I went to a race at the speedway in Charlotte, it was awesome. Bring your own beers, get tanked, scream, heckle, black out.