At one time, Major League Baseball was so popular that it earned the right to be considered America’s pastime. However, those days are long gone. According to The Harris Poll, they aren’t as long gone as one might think – as recently as 1985, MLB was only one point behind #1 sport NFL in the researcher’s annual favorite sport poll, but now, the gap is 23 points wide.
The most recent Harris Poll ranking of sports fan favorites puts the pro football comfortably at the top with a 36% share, up 5% from 2010 and 12% from 1985.
Baseball, meanwhile, dropped four points in just one year, from 17% to 13%, and has lost 10 points since 1985.
College football gained just one point from 2010 to 2011, which was all it took to propel it into a tie with baseball for second place.
Auto racing is the uncontested #4 pick, and although it has lost some steam since its 11% high water mark in 2005, it is still up 3% since 1985 with an 8% showing.
Men’s pro basketball, men’s college basketball and hockey all managed to pull 5% shares.
The only women’s sport that pulled at least 1% in 2011 was women’s tennis. Men’s tennis earned a 2% share.
Here’s a look at Harris results for all sports that earned at least 1% in 2011, including each sport’s 1985 benchmark score and scores for the last five years.
| Sport | 1985 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Pro football | 24 | 30 | 31 | 35 | 31 | 36 |
| Baseball | 23 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 13 |
| College football | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Auto racing | 5 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| Men’s pro basketball | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Men’s college basketball | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Hockey | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Men’s tennis | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Boxing | NA | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Horse racing | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Swimming | NA | NA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Men’s golf | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Track and field | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Men’s soccer | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Bowling | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Women’s tennis | NA | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Source: The Harris Poll |
Harris included high and low demos for the top four sports. Let’s throw the spotlight on them:
* Pro football: Huge with African Americans and destined to continue strong with huge support from the 30-39 age group – a group that not only figures to be around for awhile, but also figures to have upside earning potential in this stage of their careers. Fares poorly among the 65+ crowd – the very definition of an uncoveted demographic.
| Best demos | Pct. | Worst demos | Pct. |
| African Americans | 48 | Post-grad | 28 |
| 30-39 | 46 | Born-again Christian | 30 |
| Some college | 42 | 65+ | 30 |
| Source: The Harris Poll |
* Baseball: The same 30-39s that love football are among the most fervent baseball haters; meanwhile the strong baseball demo is the aging 50-64 group. Less than ideal. However, if there is an upside, it is the sport’s popularity among the rapidly growing Hispanic segment of the population. It also continues to do well on the east coast.
| Best demos | Pct. | Worst demos | Pct. |
| 50-64 | 21 | African Americans | 6 |
| Hispanics | 19 | 30-39 | 6 |
| Easterners | 17 | Households with children | 9 |
| Source: The Harris Poll |
* College football: Big in the Midwest and – no surprise – among college grads. Not so popular among easterners and low-income households. This looks to be an attractive demo for high-end advertisers.
| Best demos | Pct. | Worst demos | Pct. |
| Post grads | 22 | Easterners | 4 |
| College grads | 19 | Income less than $35K | 8 |
| Midwesterners | 18 | 50-64 | 8 |
| Source: The Harris Poll |
* Auto racing: When it comes to education, this is the exact opposite of the college football crowd – it’s favored by those with a high school education or less; and liberals are among those that pay it no attention whatsoever. Popular among the 65+ crowd, but ignored by African Americans.
| Best demos | Pct. | Worst demos | Pct. |
| Income $50K-$74.9K | 12 | African Americans | 1 |
| H.S or less | 12 | Post grad | 1 |
| 65+ | 12 | Liberals | 4 |
| Source: The Harris Poll |
RBR-TVBR observation: It pays for on-air talent to have a keen sense of which sports are being followed by the people in the audience. Stations do not need to have play-by-play rights or a sports format to get major mileage out of talking about the top teams in the market. The key is to know your market, and specifically to know your own particular audience. And if some crosstown station is voice-tracking somebody from out-of-town, this is an excellent content area to exploit in order to take full advantage of your genuine local roots. Use it.
