The Politics of Sports Fans

When Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley suggested in a radio interview that Curt Schilling had played for the Yankees instead of the Red Sox, her gaffe was doubly costly because: (1) the Democratic stronghold of Boston is the number one baseball market in the country with 77% of high turnout voters following the Sox on TV and radio; and (2) baseball fans are more likely to vote, with 60% of fans saying they always vote in statewide elections compared to just 50% of all adults. In a closer election, the Coakley-Schilling affair could have been an even bigger deal.

Sports Fans are High Turnout Voters Some call politics a sport, and sports fans seem to agree. Sports fans are more likely to be interested in politics and more likely to vote than non-fans, according to our research. The graph at the right shows the percent of fans for twenty six sports who say they “always” vote in statewide elections. Fans of nineteen sports vote at rates above the 50% national average, while only seven sports score below. Most likely to be voters are those who are “very interested” in the PGA or the LPGA tours – 65% of these golf fans say they always vote in statewide elections. College sports are another favorite of higher turnout voters, with basketball in the spring and football in the fall campaign season. (See the “Annual Sports Calendar” inside) The fan bases of golf and college sports are older, have higher incomes and are better educated, which means they are also more likely to vote.

The Politics of Sports Fans

815 Slaters Lane, Alexandria VA 22314 • Tel: 703.683.4877 • www.NMRPP.com© 2010 NMRPP LLC. All rights reserved.

Public Affairs & Political Media Research SeriesApril/May 2010

NATIONAL MEDIA RESEARCH, PLANNING & PLACEMENT LLC

© 2010 NMRPP LLC. All rights reserved.

Source: NMRPP analysis of Scarborough Research Multi-Market 2009 survey Aug. 2008 – Sept. 2009. N = 214,751 adults.

Boston media market:Percent of high turnout voters following

teams on television or radio

77%

16%

Percent of Sport Fans Who Vote

Among adults who are "very interested" in the PGA, 65% report that they always vote in statewide elections. Among all adults, 50% report always voting.

65

65

61

61

61

61

60

60

58

58

58

57

57

55

54

53

52

50

50

50

49

46

41

35

34

33

33

PGA Tour

LPGA Tour

High School Sports

College Basketball

College Football

Winter Olympics

Major League Baseball

Summer Olympics

Men’s Tennis (ATP)

National Hockey League

IndyCar Series

Women’s Tennis (WTA)

Horse Racing

National Football League

Pro Beach Volleyball (AVP)

NASCAR

WNBA Basketball

Pro Rodeo

Pro Bull Riding (PBR)

ALL ADULTS

NBA Basketball

NHRA Drag Racing

Major League Soccer

Supercross/Motocross

Monster Trucks

WWE Wrestling

Extreme/Action Sports

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Political Bracketology: GOP Leaning Fans Win Three of Four Elite Eight Contests If the Elite Eight was a leading indicator of national election outcomes, then the 2010 midterms would be very good for the Republicans. In three of the four games, the team with the more Republican fan base beat the team with the more Democratic fan base. Only Tennessee, with a heavily Republican fan base, lost to Michigan State which has fans who are more evenly balanced between the two parties. We also looked at fan intensity. Perennially winning teams build strong fan bases, but in three of the four 2010 Elite Eight games, the losing team had the stronger home fan base. Only in the Duke-Baylor game did the winner have the more passionate fans back home. Our political fan profiles are based on a total of 31,846 interviews conducted by Scarborough Research prior to the start of the 2009-2010 season. (See details below.) From the 81 markets available to us, we selected one or more DMA’s to represent the home market for

By Will Feltus, Tracey Robinson and Ben Angle; Jeannie Mitchell, Art DirectorFor copies or information, contact: Robin Roberts ([email protected]) or Greg Cleveland ([email protected])

ONLINE: This report plus other public affairs and political media research is available at www.NMRPP.com/research. To receive our e-mail reports, or to add or delete names from our mail list, please send email to [email protected].

each of the eight teams. (Unfortunately for Baylor, data is not available for Waco and we were forced instead to use Dallas and Austin, resulting in lower fan interest scores for Baylor.) Our political index scores are based on the group of adults who say they watch the team on broadcast television or on cable television, or listen to them on the radio. For Michigan State, this fan base is 30% of adults in the combined Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids media markets. To get the party index scores, we compare the partisanship of Michigan State fans to the partisanship of all adults in those media markets. The Republican index score of 111 means that Spartans fans are 11% more likely to be a Republican or Republican leaner when compared to the overall local adult population. The Democratic index score is 109, so the Spartans fan base is a party-toss up. Meanwhile, down in Knoxville, the Vols fans are indexing at 118 for Republicans and only 88 for Democrats, a 30 point Republican advantage.

% of all Adults % of Likely VotersRepublican/ Lean Rep

Democrat/ Lean Dem Notes

MI Michigan State 12 13 30 111 109 R+2Historically, there is less fan interest in BB at Mich. State which competes in a tough two major university marketplace with the University of Michigan. Red Wings are the big winter-spring sport in Mich.

Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids (Lansing N/A)

TN Tennessee 23 30 49 118 88 R+30Fan interest here is second only to Kentucky, but still second fiddle to UT football which is followed by 61% on TV and radio. Lady Vol's BB is followed by 45%.

Knoxville

IN Butler 20 25 14 115 82 R+33Butler has a strong following in a competitive sports market ruled by the Colts, followed by 69%. The University of Indiana Hoosiers are followed by 32%.

Indianapolis

KS Kansas State 27 33 31 111 106 R+5As in Michigan, the state of Kansas has two major universities competing for fans. University of Kansas BB is followed by 25%.

Wichita, Kansas City (KS portion)

WV West Virginia 19 24 28 126 99 R+27Mountaineers sports have a very solid fan base. WVU BB is second only to WVU football--34% thanks to a lack of local pro sports in the state. 27% follow the Steelers, 25% UK BB and 22% follow the Bengals.

Charleston-Huntington

KY Kentucky 38 47 57 107 100 R+7Interest in the Wildcats and the Univ of Louisiville (followed by 43%) combine to give Kentucky the country's highest concentration of college BB fans. Only the Derby is more popular, followed by 64%.

Lexington, Louisville

NC Duke 26 33 30 109 111 D+2In their home market Raleigh-Durham, Duke is followed by 30% and UNC by 39%. Unlike TN, college BB is king in Carolina, as the three research-triangle schools have larger BB fan bases than football.

Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro

TX Baylor 7 10 5 107 128 D+21Survey data is not available for Baylor's home market of Waco, which is sandwiched between the Dallas and Austin DMA's where Cowboys football (63%) rules. Baylor fan interest would be higher in Waco.

Dallas, Austin, (Waco N/A)

19 24 26 115 100 R+15

24 30 36 111 106 R+5

The 2010 NCAA Final Four and Elite Eight: Political profiles of home market fans.

Where teams stood going into the 2009-2010 season: These data show where the teams stood going into the 2009-2010 season using local market surveys conducted by Scarborough Research from August 2008-September 2009. Adult 18+ sample sizes by market groups: Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids DMAs N=7,130; Knoxville DMA N=1,986; Indianapolis DMA N=1,991; Kansas City (KS counties only) and Wichita DMA N=2,849; Charleston-Huntington DMA N=2,009; Lexington and Louisville DMAs N=3,999; Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh DMAs N=6,828; and Austin and Dallas DMAs N=5,054.

Average Winners

Average Losers

FOLLOW TEAM ON TV/RADIO

Party Margin% of all Adults

"VERY INTERESTED" IN MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Media Markets Used in Analysis

SO

UT

H

Party Index Scores

MID

WE

ST

WE

ST

EA

ST

Written by Will Feltus; Tracey Robinson, Editor; Jeannie Mitchell, Art Director; Additional research: Bradley Engle and Belinda Smith.For copies or information, contact: Robin Roberts ([email protected]) or Greg Cleveland ([email protected])

ONLINE: This repor t plus other public affairs and political media research is available at www.NMRPP.com/research. To receive our e-mail repor ts, or to add or delete names from our mail list, please send email to [email protected].

© 2010 NMRPP LLC. All rights reserved. © 2010 NMRPP LLC. All rights reserved.

At the other end of the turnout spectrum are “performance sports” favored by younger adults who are less likely to vote. These include: “extreme” sports, profes-sional wrestling, monster trucks, and motorcycle sports. Professional soccer is another low turnout sport because of its large fan base of Hispanics, who are less likely to vote than non-Hispanic Americans.

Hard-to-Find RepublicansAre Reached with Sports Our media research reveals that Democratic voters watch more television overall than Republicans and swing voters. We call this the “GRP Gap.” The audiences of most television program formats skew Democratic, as illustrated in the top bubble graph in the insert (Bubble A.) Of twenty-two television program formats, nineteen of them have audiences that are more Democratic than the adult population as a whole. Daytime talk shows (bubble on far left) have the most Democratic audiences. The “GRP Gap” means that Democratic advertis-ers have more program choices and less expensive dayparts available to reach their base target voters. Republican campaigns have to work harder to reach their voters and, for our firm’s Republican clients, sports can be a very good place to find them.

Partisanship, Voting and Sports The sports audience overall skews Republican and high turnout. Of the twenty-six sports profiled in bubble B (insert), fourteen of them have fan bases that are more Republican and more likely to vote than the average adult. The relative sizes of the individual bubbles are proportionate to the number of American adults who say they are “very interested” in the sport – larger bubbles mean more fans. Presidents and politicians of both parties have been known to enjoy a round or two, but golf fans nationally are more likely to be Republicans than Democrats. The fan base that became a political cliché – NASCAR – also skews Republican, but stock car fans are less likely to vote. College football fans are more Republican and more likely to vote than NFL fans. The same is true for college basketball versus the NBA, with pro fans significantly more Democratic and less likely to vote than college basketball fans.

Sports ReachesOpinion Leaders Sports programming is also an effective way to reach opinion leaders. Our research based Influence Index model identifies the 10% of Americans who are opinion elites based on behavioral characteristics such

as political and charitable giving, volunteerism, news consumption, and other behaviors. Elites are only 10% of the adult population, but elites account for nearly 20% of the audiences for golf, tennis, and college sports. Elite fans of golf and college sports are more likely to be Republicans, while elites fans of tennis are more likely to be Democrats.

More Live Viewers,Less DVR Ad Skipping Sports fans are more attentive and engaged than viewers of most other program formats, and most fans prefer watching sports events live rather than time-shifted on a DVR. This means that political or issue advertising in a sports event is less susceptible to ad-skipping during DVR playback. The table below shows non-live, time-shifted viewing for several program genres in 2009 as estimated by Nielsen. Reality and talent competitions (e.g. “American Idol”) have the highest percentages of time-shifted viewing, averaging nearly 19% of total viewing. By comparison, time-shifted viewing accounts for only 5% of sports event viewing and 2.5% of sports news viewing. Nationally, around 40% of likely voters now have a DVR in the household, and the percentage will continue to grow.

Like Politics,Sports is Local The findings described in this paper are based on national data, but there are significant regional and local variations in voters’ sports preferences that must be considered when planning sports as part of a media campaign. For example, fourteen percent of high turnout voters nationally say they are “very interested” in college basketball. But interest is much higher in Kentucky where fans follow the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. Louisville is the top college hoops market with 51% of likely voters saying they are very interested, followed by Lexington with 43% very interested. Markets in North Carolina and Kansas round out the college basketball top five. Top five market rankings for twenty-one major and minor sports are listed in the insert included with this report.

100

2030

40

% O

F H

IGH

TU

RN

OU

T V

OT

ER

S

J A N U A R Y F E B R U A R Y M A R C H A P R I L J U N EM A Y J U L Y S E P T E M B E RA U G U S T O C T O B E R N O V E M B E R D E C E M B E R

BC

S B

ow

ls

NH

L R

egu

lar

Sea

son

Su

per

Bo

wl

Day

ton

a 50

0

NC

AA

Men

’s

BB

To

urn

amen

t

NC

AA

Wo

men

’s B

B T

ou

rnam

ent

Th

e M

aste

rs

ML

B

Ken

tuck

y D

erb

y

Sta

nle

y C

up

Pla

yoff

s

Ind

ian

apo

lis 5

00

NB

A F

inal

s

U.S

. O

pen

Go

lf

Bel

mo

nt S

take

s

Wim

ble

do

n

Tou

r d

e F

ran

ce

Bri

tish

Op

en

Su

mm

er O

lym

pic

s

PG

A C

ham

pio

nshi

p

NC

AA

Fo

otb

all

NF

L R

egu

lar

Sea

son

Wo

rld

Ser

ies

ML

S C

up

NC

AA

M B

B

NC

AA

W B

B

REPUBLICAN LEAN %

IND

EX

SC

OR

ES

131 116 119 127 122 116 120 118 102 104 115 115 122 126 117 120 80

100

92

R+39

121

130

91

R+30 R+16 R+33 R+28 R+27 R+25 R+27 R+29 R+30 D+30R+19 R+19D+12 D+5 R+13R+18 R+18

100 86 99 95 91 98 95 91 114 109 97 102 93 96 98 101 110

102 112 98

102

D+15

117

96 107

127

R+36

104 111 118 113 88

120

R+25

95

107

114

R+14

100

112 101 113

126

R+34

92

108 100 109

U.S

. O

pen

Ten

nis

100

D+11

111

97 95 103

NY

C M

arat

ho

n

95

D+21

116

73 99 92

125

R+26

99

96

102

D+13

115

95

DEMOCRAT LEAN %

INDEPENDENT %

Time-Shifted Viewing as Pct. of

Total Viewing

Talent/Reality 18.6%Drama 12.9%Comedy/Variety 11.4%Soap Operas 10.5%Sporting Events 4.6%Sporting News 2.5%

The Year in Sports: Political Profiles of Sports FansThis timeline shows a selection of sports during the year, the percent of likely voters who are very interested (height of bar), and the relative partisanship of the fans (red = more Republican fans; blue = more Democratic fans).


54 Pittsburgh, Pa. 41 Salt Lake City, Utah 55 Birmingham, Ala.52 Green Bay, Wis. 39 San Diego, Calif. 49 Knoxville, Tenn.44 Milwaukee, Wis. 35 Bakersfield, Calif. 47 Oklahoma City, Okla.42 Providence, R.I. 34 Des Moines, Iowa 43 Columbus, Ohio41 New Orleans, La. 33 Denver, Colo. 40 Jacksonville, Fla.

41 Boston, Mass. 51 Louisville, Ky. 23 Greensboro, N.C.37 Providence, R.I. 43 Lexington, Ky. 22 Greenville, S.C.33 St. Louis, Mo. 36 Greensboro, N.C. 20 Roanoke, Va.30 Philadelphia, Pa. 33 Wichita, Kan. 18 Jacksonville, Fla.29 Hartford, Conn. 32 Raleigh, N.C. 18 Chattanooga, Tenn.

33 San Antonio, Texas 17 Fort Myers, Fla. 20 Wilkes-Barre, Pa.19 Cleveland, Ohio 16 Orlando, Fla. 18 El Paso, Texas18 Salt Lake City, Utah 14 West Palm Beach, Fla. 17 Wichita, Kan.18 Phoenix, Ariz. 14 Tampa, Fla. 17 Birmingham, Ala.17 Boston, Mass. 14 Jacksonville, Fla. 17 Des Moines, Iowa

29 Pittsburgh, Pa. 8 Fort Myers, Fla. 8 Miami, Fla.27 Detroit, Mich. 8 West Palm Beach, Fla. 7 Fort Myers, Fla.24 Buffalo, N.Y. 7 Miami, Fla. 7 West Palm Beach, Fla.17 Flint, Mich. 7 San Diego, Calif. 7 San Diego, Calif.14 Grand Rapids, Mich. 6 New York, N.Y. 6 Las Vegas, Nev.

11 Oklahoma City, Okla. 8 Albuquerque, N.M. 10 Indianapolis, Ind.10 Albuquerque, N.M. 7 St. Louis, Mo. 8 Albuquerque, N.M.10 Tulsa, Ariz. 6 Fresno, Calif. 7 Phoenix, Ariz.8 Little Rock, Ark. 6 Knoxville, Tenn. 6 Cleveland, Ohio7 Wichita, Kan. 6 Jacksonville, Fla. 5 Oklahoma City, Okla.

10 Louisville, Ky. 5 Toledo, Ohio 8 Harlingen, Texas9 Lexington, Ky. 5 Flint, Mich. 6 Charleston, W.Va.7 Albuquerque, N.M. 5 St. Louis, Mo. 6 Birmingham, Ala.6 Charleston, W.Va. 4 Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 6 Little Rock, Ark.6 Oklahoma City, Okla. 4 Roanoke, Va. 5 Phoenix, Ariz.

8 Honolulu, Hawaii 6 San Diego, Calif. 9 Hartford, Conn.6 Fort Myers, Fla. 5 El Paso, Texas 6 Chattanooga, Tenn.5 Orlando, Fla. 4 Seattle, Wash. 5 Knoxville, Tenn.5 West Palm Beach, Fla. 4 Houston, Texas 3 Little Rock, Ark.4 Boston, Mass. 3 Los Angeles, Calif. 3 Nashville, Tenn.

Horse racing (3%)

Olympics (28%)

WWE (2%)

Men's tennis (4%)

IndyCar Series (3%)Pro Bull Riding (3%)

High school sports (9%)

Women's tennis (3%)

NBA (9%)

WNBA (2%)

MLB (17%)

Minor League Baseball (2%)

NHRA Drag Racing (3%)

NHL (5%)

MLS (2%)

NASCAR (10%)

PGA TOUR (9%)

LPGA Tour (2%)

College basketball (14%)

College football (23%)

Voters' Top-Five Media Market Rankings for Major and Minor Sports

NFL (29%)

Ranked by percent of high turnout voters in media market who are "very interested". Kentucky markets Louisville (51%) and Lexington (43%) top the list for college basketball. Nationally, 14% of all high turnout voters are very interested in college basketball.



© 2

010

NM

RP

P L

LC.

All

rig

hts

rese

rved

.



Kids shows

Reality - datingMusic videos

Daytime talk shows

Late night talk

Reality - adventure

Court showsDaytime soaps

Mystery/suspense/crime

Game shows

National/network news

Documentaries

Local evening news

Local late news

Local morning news

Dramas Religious

Sports

Reality - talentScience fiction

Comedies

Movies

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

-60 -40 -20 0 20 40

LOW

TU

RN

OU

TH

IGH

TU

RN

OU

TVo

ter T

urno

ut In

dex

Republican Index Minus Democrat IndexDEMOCRAT SKEW REPUBLICAN SKEW

High TurnoutRepublicans

High TurnoutDemocrats

Low TurnoutRepublicans

Low TurnoutDemocrats

Pro Bull Riding

Olympics

WNBA

NBA

Women's tennis (WTA)

Men's tennis (ATP)

Grand-Am Sports Car racing

Major League Soccer (MLS)

WWE (pro wrestling)

Extreme/action sports

Monster trucks Supercross/Motocross

NHRA Drag Racing

PGA TOUR (men's golf)

College football

NASCAR

NFL

NHL

LPGA Tour (women's golf)

High school sports

Minor League Baseball

MLB

College basketball

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80

LOW

TU

RN

OU

TH

IGH

TU

RN

OU

TVo

ter T

urno

ut In

dex

Republican Index Minus Democrat IndexDEMOCRAT SKEW REPUBLICAN SKEW

Audiences of most TV program formats skew Democrat.

Program format audiences in upper right (e.g. National/network news) have a higher than average percentage of viewers who are Republican and likely to vote. Audiences in upper le� (e.g. Late night talk) have a higher percentage of viewers who are Democratic and likely to vote. �e bubble size is proportionate to the percentage of adults who report typically watching the television format. Axis values are index scores that compare format viewers to the total adult population which has an average index value of 100.

However, audiences of most sports skew Republican and are more likely to vote.

Source: NMRPP analysis of Scarborough USA+ survey Aug. 2008 - Sept. 2009. N = 218,313 adults.

When Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley suggested in a radio interview that Curt Schilling had played for the Yankees instead of the Red Sox, her gaffe was doubly costly because: (1) the Democratic stronghold of Boston is the number one baseball market in the country with 77% of high turnout voters following the Sox on TV and radio; and (2) baseball fans are more likely to vote, with 60% of fans saying they always vote in statewide elections compared to just 50% of all adults. In a closer election, the Coakley-Schilling affair could have been an even bigger deal.

Sports Fans are High Turnout Voters Some call politics a sport, and sports fans seem to agree. Sports fans are more likely to be interested in politics and more likely to vote than non-fans, according to our research. The graph at the right shows the percent of fans for twenty six sports who say they “always” vote in statewide elections. Fans of nineteen sports vote at rates above the 50% national average, while only seven sports score below. Most likely to be voters are those who are “very interested” in the PGA or the LPGA tours – 65% of these golf fans say they always vote in statewide elections. College sports are another favorite of higher turnout voters, with basketball in the spring and football in the fall campaign season. (See the “Annual Sports Calendar” inside) The fan bases of golf and college sports are older, have higher incomes and are better educated, which means they are also more likely to vote.

The Politics of Sports Fans

815 Slaters Lane, Alexandria VA 22314 • Tel: 703.683.4877 • www.NMRPP.com© 2010 NMRPP LLC. All rights reserved.




Source: NMRPP analysis of Scarborough Research Multi-Market 2009 survey Aug. 2008 – Sept. 2009. N = 214,751 adults.

Boston media market:Percent of high turnout voters following

teams on television or radio

77%

16%

Percent of Sport Fans Who Vote

Among adults who are "very interested" in the PGA, 65% report that they always vote in statewide elections. Among all adults, 50% report always voting.

65

65

61

61

61

61

60

60

58

58

58

57

57

55

54

53

52

50

50

50

49

46

41

35

34

33

33

PGA Tour

LPGA Tour

High School Sports

College Basketball

College Football

Winter Olympics

Major League Baseball

Summer Olympics

Men’s Tennis (ATP)

National Hockey League

IndyCar Series

Women’s Tennis (WTA)

Horse Racing

National Football League

Pro Beach Volleyball (AVP)

NASCAR

WNBA Basketball

Pro Rodeo

Pro Bull Riding (PBR)

ALL ADULTS

NBA Basketball

NHRA Drag Racing

Major League Soccer

Supercross/Motocross

Monster Trucks

WWE Wrestling

Extreme/Action Sports

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Political Bracketology: GOP Leaning Fans Win Three of Four Elite Eight Contests If the Elite Eight was a leading indicator of national election outcomes, then the 2010 midterms would be very good for the Republicans. In three of the four games, the team with the more Republican fan base beat the team with the more Democratic fan base. Only Tennessee, with a heavily Republican fan base, lost to Michigan State which has fans who are more evenly balanced between the two parties. We also looked at fan intensity. Perennially winning teams build strong fan bases, but in three of the four 2010 Elite Eight games, the losing team had the stronger home fan base. Only in the Duke-Baylor game did the winner have the more passionate fans back home. Our political fan profiles are based on a total of 31,846 interviews conducted by Scarborough Research prior to the start of the 2009-2010 season. (See details below.) From the 81 markets available to us, we selected one or more DMA’s to represent the home market for

By Will Feltus, Tracey Robinson and Ben Angle; Jeannie Mitchell, Art DirectorFor copies or information, contact: Robin Roberts ([email protected]) or Greg Cleveland ([email protected])

ONLINE: This report plus other public affairs and political media research is available at www.NMRPP.com/research. To receive our e-mail reports, or to add or delete names from our mail list, please send email to [email protected].

each of the eight teams. (Unfortunately for Baylor, data is not available for Waco and we were forced instead to use Dallas and Austin, resulting in lower fan interest scores for Baylor.) Our political index scores are based on the group of adults who say they watch the team on broadcast television or on cable television, or listen to them on the radio. For Michigan State, this fan base is 30% of adults in the combined Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids media markets. To get the party index scores, we compare the partisanship of Michigan State fans to the partisanship of all adults in those media markets. The Republican index score of 111 means that Spartans fans are 11% more likely to be a Republican or Republican leaner when compared to the overall local adult population. The Democratic index score is 109, so the Spartans fan base is a party-toss up. Meanwhile, down in Knoxville, the Vols fans are indexing at 118 for Republicans and only 88 for Democrats, a 30 point Republican advantage.

% of all Adults % of Likely VotersRepublican/ Lean Rep

Democrat/ Lean Dem Notes

MI Michigan State 12 13 30 111 109 R+2Historically, there is less fan interest in BB at Mich. State which competes in a tough two major university marketplace with the University of Michigan. Red Wings are the big winter-spring sport in Mich.

Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids (Lansing N/A)

TN Tennessee 23 30 49 118 88 R+30Fan interest here is second only to Kentucky, but still second fiddle to UT football which is followed by 61% on TV and radio. Lady Vol's BB is followed by 45%.

Knoxville

IN Butler 20 25 14 115 82 R+33Butler has a strong following in a competitive sports market ruled by the Colts, followed by 69%. The University of Indiana Hoosiers are followed by 32%.

Indianapolis

KS Kansas State 27 33 31 111 106 R+5As in Michigan, the state of Kansas has two major universities competing for fans. University of Kansas BB is followed by 25%.

Wichita, Kansas City (KS portion)

WV West Virginia 19 24 28 126 99 R+27Mountaineers sports have a very solid fan base. WVU BB is second only to WVU football--34% thanks to a lack of local pro sports in the state. 27% follow the Steelers, 25% UK BB and 22% follow the Bengals.

Charleston-Huntington

KY Kentucky 38 47 57 107 100 R+7Interest in the Wildcats and the Univ of Louisiville (followed by 43%) combine to give Kentucky the country's highest concentration of college BB fans. Only the Derby is more popular, followed by 64%.

Lexington, Louisville

NC Duke 26 33 30 109 111 D+2In their home market Raleigh-Durham, Duke is followed by 30% and UNC by 39%. Unlike TN, college BB is king in Carolina, as the three research-triangle schools have larger BB fan bases than football.

Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro

TX Baylor 7 10 5 107 128 D+21Survey data is not available for Baylor's home market of Waco, which is sandwiched between the Dallas and Austin DMA's where Cowboys football (63%) rules. Baylor fan interest would be higher in Waco.

Dallas, Austin, (Waco N/A)

19 24 26 115 100 R+15

24 30 36 111 106 R+5

The 2010 NCAA Final Four and Elite Eight: Political profiles of home market fans.

Where teams stood going into the 2009-2010 season: These data show where the teams stood going into the 2009-2010 season using local market surveys conducted by Scarborough Research from August 2008-September 2009. Adult 18+ sample sizes by market groups: Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids DMAs N=7,130; Knoxville DMA N=1,986; Indianapolis DMA N=1,991; Kansas City (KS counties only) and Wichita DMA N=2,849; Charleston-Huntington DMA N=2,009; Lexington and Louisville DMAs N=3,999; Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh DMAs N=6,828; and Austin and Dallas DMAs N=5,054.

Average Winners

Average Losers

FOLLOW TEAM ON TV/RADIO

Party Margin% of all Adults

"VERY INTERESTED" IN MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Media Markets Used in Analysis

SO

UT

H

Party Index Scores

MID

WE

ST

WE

ST

EA

ST

The Politics of Sports Fans

Documents

Transcript of The Politics of Sports Fans