As the Super Bowl nears, 72% of Americans claim to be football fans even if they’re not sports fans, according to a survey released Friday by the Siena College Research Institute and St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication.
Research was conducted between Jan. 3 to Jan. 8 and surveyed 3,201 U.S. residents. Of them, 21% said they are “avid” fans, meaning they watch sports, sports news, and in many cases, play fantasy sports almost every day. Another 26% claimed to be “involved” fans, meaning they engage with sports throughout the week.
Most respondents said the reason they watch football is for the human connection, with 83% saying it’s to bond with family and friends.
“Sports in general and football specifically are central to who we are and what we do as a nation and as individuals,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of St. Bonaventure’s Jandoli School of Communication, in a press release. “It connects communities, families and friends in ways that no other sport does, and it is important to understand why and how football is part of our social fabric.”
The survey highlighted fan favorites and the least-liked teams, so let’s dig into the data.
Fan favorites: Teams
Every year, football fans hope their team makes it to the playoffs, and if possible, the Super Bowl. While they have their main team, they may also have their least favorite team. But for America, the survey showed it’s clear there’s a most liked as well as disliked team: The Dallas Cowboys.
Among the favorites were also the Chicago Bears and third is the Green Bay Packers.
As for teams that are least liked, or as the survey labeled them as “non-fans,” Americans also said the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay packers.
Fan favorites: Players
As for “active” NFL players — or in this case, just recently retired — a majority of the respondents picked Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady as their favorite player. Behind Brady, Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers tied for second-most favorite.
As for a former player, many picked Joe Montana as No. 1. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Walter Payton were also among the favorite former players.
Reasons to watch football
While most of them say it’s to bond with family and friends, there’s a variety of other reasons respondents said they watch football, including:
- Watching football is fun (81%)
- Favorite teams are important to fans (70%)
- Watching football is their favorite thing to do (67%)
- It’s a chance to eat and drink (59%)
Another reason fans said they watch it is because the players serve as good role models, but it also depends on the age group — 60% of people between the ages of 18-34-years-old agree, while 37% of those 65 and older agree.
Not everybody likes football
Around a third of Americans believe football is too violent, according to the survey.
“Despite majorities of Americans saying that many core American values including teamwork, family togetherness and leadership can be learned from football, some are concerned about elements of the game. More than one-third (37%) say that football is too dangerous for young people to play and just over a quarter of Americans — including nearly 40% of non-fans — say that football is too violent,” said Don Levy, Siena College Research Institute director.
Read the results of the full survey here.
