A poll conducted this week by the Seton Hall Sports Poll has found that 84% of American support the NFL players’ right to protest,    with only 16% saying the players should be ordered to stand for the anthem or be dropped from the team if they refuse.

 

Of the 84% supporting the players’ right to protest, 49% felt they should find a different way to express their political opinions, and 35% felt that not standing for the anthem is an acceptable way to protest.  There was a wide racial gap in those saying it was an acceptable form of protest.  70% of African-American chose that option while only 28% of whites did.

 

The poll of 845 adults (on both landline and cellphone) was conducted across the US on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday of this week.  It has a margin of error of 3.4%.   

President Trump has called on NFL owners to fire any players who refuse to stand, and on this, he received 28% support overall.  6% of African-Americans supported the president on this; 32% of whites.  Commissioner Roger Goodell and several NFL owners called the president’s comments divisive, to which 50% overall agreed.  In that breakdown, 78% of African-Americans agreed with the commissioner and 47% of whites did. The respondents were asked to choose between those two positions.

 

Asked about Kaepernick’s lack of a contract by an NFL team, 47% felt it was because of his protests and 19% because he wasn’t good enough.  81% of African-Americans felt it was because of his protest with only 7% saying it was because he was not good enough, while among whites the ratio was 41% (protest) and 22% (ability).

With the NFL and NHL about to move into Las Vegas for the first time, nearly half of the US population foresees the increased likelihood of players, referees or team officials gambling on the outcome of games.  A Seton Hall Sports Poll found that 46% responded yes to the question of increased likelihood for gambling on games, while 42% thought the likelihood would not increase. The poll, conducted this week asked 687 adults (on both landline and cellphone) whether professional teams should be making their home in Las Vegas, and 47% responded yes, with only 27% no.  26% said they had no opinion.  The poll, sponsored by The Sharkey Institute, has a margin of error of 3.8%.

When asked if the move to Las Vegas will tarnish the league’s reputation, 21% said it would harm the NFL and 19% said it would harm the NHL.  

ONE IN FOUR SEES NEED FOR MORE WOMEN COACHING WOMEN’S TEAMS

The Poll asked several questions regarding women’s sports and women coaches. The public seems perfectly fine with men coaching women’s teams (82% approve), and with women coaching men’s teams (80% approval).  But one in four people (25%) thought it was a problem that the great majority of women’s sports teams (collegiate and professional) are coached by men.  59% said they felt there was “not enough ” coverage of women’s sports by the media, with 30% saying it was the right amount and only 3% saying it was “too much.”

A clear majority of the American public believes that television revenue generated by the NCAA Basketball Tournament has turned collegiate athletics into too big a business, detracting from a university’s academic goals.

53% responded “yes” to that question in a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted this week among 739 adults across the country.  35% responded “no.”  The poll has a +/- 3.7% margin of error and is conducted with both landline and cellphone users.  

When asked, however, how much importance universities place on graduating basketball players - 58% said they believed the schools placed either a high or medium importance on graduation.  This is about even (59%) from a similar Seton Hall Sports Poll taken five years ago.

Both the NBA Commissioner and the president of the NCAA have suggested raising the minimum age for eligibility in the NBA draft from 19 to 20.  That essentially raises the commitment to college basketball from one year to two years.  19% thought it should remain at one year, but 41% favored two years.  26% said there should be no limits.  When asked this question two years ago, 12% favored one year, and 56% two years with 23% saying no limits. 

63% felt requiring an extra year of eligibility in college was a good thing, even if it meant losing a year of professional salary.  26% said no to the extra year requirement.  When asked this question in 2014, 73% favored staying in school, a significant drop.

If younger people are to set the trend for the future of legalized gambling in America, they are certainly showing support for the concept today.

Asked by the Seton Hall Sports Poll this week, “It’s been said a lot of people bet on sporting events anyway, so government should allow it and tax it.  It’s also been said legal betting on sporting events is a bad idea because it promotes too much gambling and damages the integrity of sports.  Which comes closer to your view?”…….

….46% of Americans stated support for allowing betting on sporting events, while 42% said it was bad idea.  This is a substantial increase from 2010 when a Fairleigh Dickinson poll showed 39% of Americans supported it, with 54% saying it was a bad idea. 

Younger people are twice as likely to say “allow it” than those over 60.  There is a clear age trend in support by age group: 67% of 18-29, 48% of 30-44, 42% of 45-59 and 30% of 60+.   

The age trend also was demonstrable on a question of whether it was appropriate for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s to call for legalized betting on a strictly regulated basis.  56% of those 18-29 supported his stance as appropriate, 34% of those 30-44, 28% of those 45-59 and 21% of those 60+ supported the stance. Similarly, addressing New Jersey’s attempt of recent years to allow for sports gambling, 61% of those 18-29 said they should have passed the law, 50% of those 30-44, 47% of those 45-59 and 33% of those 60+ supported it.

An era of cord-cutting may loom in the future, but for now, traditional television viewing of the Super Bowl has a firm grasp on the American public.  According to a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted this week in the days after the game, a whopping 98% watched on TV, with only a combined 1% - barely - watching on phone, tablet or computer.

Meanwhile, asked if Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback in NFL history, 63% of those who identified as sports fans agreed with only 19% disagreeing.  Of those who said they were NFL fans, 51% agreed, and 21% disagreed.  Among the general population, 39% agreed, with only 21% disagreeing.  

Finally, in the excitement following the first overtime in Super Bowl history and the fifth Super Bowl win for the  Patriots, 44% found the game the most compelling of recent championships, with Game 7 of the World Series registering 26% and the college football championship (Alabama-Clemson) at 11%.

The November Seton Hall Sports Poll, asked Americans how they felt about the concussion/head injury issue in football.  People were asked if they most agreed with President Obama’s feelings about having to think twice about letting a son play football, or President-elect Trump’s statement that head-on-tackles in the NFL are incredible to watch and the league has gone too soft on the issue of head injuries.  59% agreed with the Obama position while only 23% agreed with the Trump statement.  By gender, women agreed with Obama over Trump by 66%-17%, and men agreed with Obama by 52%-29%.

In a year of declining television viewership for NFL games, 23% of Americans say they are watching fewer games, and a quarter of them attribute it to the protests during the playing of the national anthem.

As for Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco quarterback who triggered the national anthem protests, 50% expressed disapproval over his deciding not to vote in the presidential election, with only 14% showing approval.  Only 30% of African-Americans disapproved compared to 58% of white respondents.  

There was good news for Major League Baseball amongst the findings - 19% the country said that the Cubs victory made them more interested in following baseball.

By a 58% to 24% margin, Americans believe that professional leagues and college conferences are not doing enough to police instances of sexual abuse by athletes.  A total of 58% said “no” on the question of doing enough to police the instances, with only 24% saying enough was being done.  

By 72% to 16%, Americans believe that male athletes discuss their sexual conquests of women in locker room discussions.  That finding was evenly placed among men (73%) and women (71%).  By 54% to 33% American believe that athletes speak in the manner expressed by Donald Trump in his 2005 tape, with 58% of males thinking “yes, they do” and 51% of women thinking the same.

Rick Gentile was interviewed by Seth Everett for this podcast on the poll’s findings

Viewership for NFL games is down approximately 12% this season, sending league and club officials in search of reasons.  A Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted this week asked people to identify factors accounting for the drop. 

Each question was asked separately, allowing for a yes, no or don’t know response.   Thus, respondents could weigh in on each of the seven possibilities as a contributing factor without identifying one single factor.  

The leading factor - the one receiving the most “yesses” was players not standing for the national anthem.  However, the seven factors all evoked a large number of yes responses, so that even the least chosen, at 33%, represents a lot of fans.

56% of respondents cited players not standing, with 50% citing the distraction of the presidential campaign, and 47% the controversy over the handling of domestic violence cases involving players.

On the question of domestic violence, men and women responded equally; 47% of men cited that as a possible reason, 46% of women said yes to that possibility.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Seton Hall Sports Poll Podcast.  In this premiere episode, Seth Everett & Poll Director Rick Gentile discuss the poll's latest findings on the recent controversy involving Colin Kaepernick & other NFL players NOT standing for the National Anthem.

Americans disapprove by nearly 2 to 1 (with many having no opinion) of San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s sitdown/kneeldown during the playing of the national anthem in protest of police violence against people of color - but approve of his right to protest by a 4-1 margin., according to a national poll conducted this week by the Seton Hall Sports Poll.

By more than a 2 to 1 margin, the nation believes the National Football League has not been honest in recent years on the subject of head injuries, according to a Seton Hall Sports Poll. While 26% believe the league has been honest, 58% feels it has not been. 51% feel the NFL is not doing enough to protect its players from concussions and head injuries (vs. 35% who feel they do), 

While a national dialogue on the matter of equal pay for women plays out on the Presidential campaign trail, on the matter of members of the US Women’s Soccer team (World Cup champions), receiving comparable pay to members of the Men’s team, 73% indicated they should receive the same pay, with an additional 11% saying they should receive more.

With the NBA Commissioner saying he would like to raise the minimum age to draft players from 19 to 20, this effectively meant college players would have to complete two years, not one.  55% of respondents agreed with the two years of college plan, with only 13% supporting one year.

The Seton Hall Sports Poll has been conducted regularly since 2006.

Media: Marty Appel Public Relations