Over the Wire

Role Model, Anyone?

Turns out that being squeaky clean (at least as far as the public knows) now officially means NOTHING in the way of sports fanship. Last month, we released the Harris Poll’s list of favorite sports stars… and as far as I can tell, only 2 out of the top 8 have stayed out of the spotlight for off-the-court/field hijinx (is that what we are calling it that these days?).  Our favorites list includes reality-show proportions of addiction, infidelity, gambling, and arrests, just to name a few of the exploits covered. 

Sure, we don’t love our sports stars quite as much when they’ve been behaving badly…Like for example, Tiger Woods no longer has a lock on first place, he now has to share it with what-scandal?-I-have-my-fifth-ring Kobe Bryant…And yes it’s true that Lebron James fell 3 spots to #6 after he took us on a tour of his ego this summer.

But this list rings like a roll call of who’s most-wanted for indecent and egomaniacal behavior rather than (or as well as) a list of our most beloved sports icons. As a mom and a sports fan, my list would be SO different… but then of course, none of mine have ever won a ring. What’s the lesson here, kids?

P.S. Just to Lebron, only one athlete in the top 8 has never won a ring in his sport… I’ll let you do the math.  So with all respect, maybe your move to Miami was necessary but I’m not sure how patiently we are going to hold onto your spot.

Can Baseball Teams Buy Our Love?

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Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Marketing Manager and Baseball Neophyte

Much like Laura concluded last year, the baseball teams we love the most are, for the most part, the teams with the highest-paid rosters.

But times are tough, people! And baseball is very much a business. So in that sense, it not how much you win or lose, it’s how much money you can generate … er… it’s how much  you are “loved.”

Thanks to CBS Sports’ 2010 MLB Team Pay Rankings, I was able to do a little hypothesizing, as to which teams are a “good value” based on their pay ranking AND where they fall in our annual Harris Poll “Favorite Baseball Teams” study.

The Question: Do the pay rankings for MLB teams synch up with how much they are loved? Are some teams overpaid, yet underloved? Are some teams overloved and underpaid? And whch teams have it all figured out?

Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you, my "Best Values in the MLB" chart...which teams are home runs in terms of value and which ones strike out?

Team	Favorite Ranking	Pay Ranking 2010	Home Run or Strike?*
New York Yankees	1	1	-
Boston Red Sox	2	2	-
Atlanta Braves	3	15	Home Run
Philadelphia Phillies	4	4	-
Chicago Cubs	5	3	Strike
New York Mets	6	5	Strike
San Francisco Giants	7	10	Home Run
Los Angeles Dodgers	8	12	Home Run
Minnesota Twins	9	11	Home Run
St. Louis Cardinals	10	13	Home Run
Milwaukee Brewers	11	18	Home Run
Detroit Tiger	12	6	Strike
Seattle Mariners	12	9	Strike
Texas Rangers	12	27	Home Run
Chicago White Sox	15	7	Strike
Cincinnati Reds	16	19	Home Run
Cleveland Indians	17	24	Home Run
Arizona Diamondbacks	18	25	Home Run
Kansas City Royals	19	20	Home Run
Colorado Rockies	20	16	Strike
Baltimore Orioles	20	17	Strike
Tampa Bay Rays	22	21	Strike
Oakland Athletics	23	28	Home Run
San Diego Padres	23	29	Home Run
Los Angeles Angels	25	8	Strike
Pittsburgh Pirates	25	30	Home Run
Washington Nationals	27	23	Strike
Houston Astros	28	14	Strike
Florida Marlins	29	26	Strike
Toronto Blue Jays**	30	22	-

**Left the Blue Jays “unjudged”, as we don’t really know where they lie in the “favorite” ranking – this survey was conducted among U.S. adults, so it’s not surprising a Canadian team is at the bottom. Plus, who even knows if their pay ranking was converted from Canadian dollars?

Okay, so I really know nothing about baseball “home runs” or “strike outs,” per se. However, I speculate that teams do NOT become favorites because of their performance. Hence, why the Chicago Cubs are high on the favorite and pay list, while other, more recently "successful" teams still don’t get nearly as much love (think: World Series ’02 Champs, the Los Angeles Angels;  World Series ’03 Champs, the Florida Marlins and ’05 Champs, the Chicago White Sox.

As you can see, very few teams have pay that coincides with their popularity… but those who have found an equilibrium tend to be near the very top of both the favorites and pay list (think: Yanks, BoSox, Phillies). The question is – does popularity eventually lead to higher pay? Or, does higher pay ensure more popularity?

Which came first – the chicken or the pay?

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Tar Zeal

So I spent the ENTIRE weekend watching college basketball and cheering madly for Xavier and Ohio State to win both Friday and Sunday nights – because no one loves potatoes more than me (wait no, that’s Idaho), and oh right, because the fantasy basketball team created by me last Wednesday night (way too late for a mom of two) has 3 players from the Buckeye State.  Incidentally being the only XX chromosome in an all-male fantasy league, I have heard more than a little trash talk over the past five days… and turns out no one really takes you seriously when your screen name is Little Spirit. 

But all that out of my system, I must say that I feel a kinship with America for the first time in a long time…  Typically in our Harris Polls about sports and celebrities, only the strong survive.  But not this year… this year, it looks like loyalty bleeds blue (both light and dark) because:

• North Carolina is tied for #1 on our favorites list (along with Duke), despite missing the tournament 3 times this decade, including this year after being last year’s defending champion;
• Connecticut moves up significantly on our favorites list (from unranked in 2008 to #9 in 2009 to #3 in 2010), even though they too missed the tournament this year;
• UCLA clings to a #8 spot in our rankings, even though they were invited neither to the Big Dance nor the also-ran NIT this year; and
• Syracuse and Kansas don’t even make our list, regardless of their stellar seasons and their #1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

On the women’s side, both Connecticut and Tennessee remain this year’s #1 and #2 pre-eminent favorites.  No surprise there since both teams define success, and Connecticut has made history once again with a string of 73 consecutive victories and another potential undefeated season.  But only 39% of college basketball fans feel that Connecticut will be crowned the champion this year – huh? 

The only other interesting notes from an otherwise unsurprising women’s favorites list are: Nebraska and Michigan State, who both make the list for the first time this year… and Nebraska without an equally popular or victorious men’s team to help generate attention.

Do you have a favorite college basketball team?  If so, do you feel America got it right?  And, should we stick with our favorites no matter their record on the court?  I vote an unambiguous yes…

Data Snapshot

26% of Americans follow men’s college basketball; 9% follow women’s. --- The Harris Poll, conducted online between March 1 and March 8, 2010 among 2,320 U.S. adults

So It's Root, Root, Root for the Football Team...

Post by Whitney Heckathorne, Public Relations Research and Snow Day Survivor

There will be no blog post today, due to inclement weather.

Kidding! You know we blog, rain or shine. We’re like the postal service of market research blogging. And with today’s snow-filled weather in the Northeast, let’s take on a more light-hearted topic: America’s favorite sports.

According to a recent Harris Poll, America’s favorite sport is pro football and has been every time we’ve conducted this survey since 1985 (sidenote—we only asked people who follow at least one sport).

Coming in at number two? Professional baseball. Welcome, America’s (Second) Favorite Pastime.

And finally, accepting the bronze medal is my personal favorite, college football. Now if only our Harris Poll BCS methodologist would let me “tweak” our formula so my beloved Oklahoma Sooners could get a BCS bowl game bid in 2010.

What is your favorite sport? To watch? To play? Do we think any sport will ever take over pro football as #1? And do we think Harris will be peeved that I used the blog as a forum for shameless team promotion?

Discuss!

Data Snapshot

Among Americans who follow one or more sport, over one-third (35%) say professional football is their favorite. ---The Harris Poll, conducted online between December 7th and 14th, 2009 among U.S. adults 2,276 18+

2009: A Year in Data

To close out 2009, let’s discuss the America we are now – after a year of health care non-reform, iconic marital infidelity, and the rise of America’s favorite baseball team AGAIN.  We opened the year with the inauguration of our celebu-Prez, and here’s a chronology of where we’ve been since then, according to the data:

• January: Jay Leno was our favorite TV personality and Ellen Degeneres was #3 – but that was before Ellen became America’s newest Idol judge.
• February: Obama was America’s hero followed by Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King Jr – but that was before, depending on your point of view, change had(n’t) come to America.
• April: CSI was the favorite TV show of all time – but that was before The Sing Off and MTV’s Jersey Shore.
• June: Cliff Huxtable was our favorite TV dad in a sitcom about America’s model family – but that was before Modern Family and Big Love. 
• July: The Yankees were America’s favorite baseball team – but that was before, oh right, the Yankees won the World Series.
• July: Tiger Woods was our #1 favorite sports star – but that was before his infidelity became water cooler conversation. 
• July: Australia was our favorite destination outside of U.S. – but that was before we realized the recession would never ever end.
• October: The Cowboys were our favorite football team and the Saints a measly 24th – but that was before the Saints started the season a bruising 13-1.
• December: Obama’s approval rating slid to 41% positive (from 59% back in May) – but that was before the 2nd yet-to-be-seen year of his presidency.

Besides the sure lock of the Yankees to come in #1 in 2010 (any doubters?), any predictions for next year on the status of Obama or Ellen or Tiger or the Saints?

Happy New Year!

There’s No "I" in the “Greatest Ever”

Hooray!  The Harris Poll just released its list of “greatest sports stars of all time,” allowing me to indulge all of you with another post on my #1 obsession. 

Note to all athletes, the general trends from the list (among Americans who follow sports) are as follows:

• It appears that you need to retire so we can look at the full arc of your career, before Americans will anoint you the “greatest of all time.”  Only 4 out of 11 (there was a tie in the 10 spot) are still playing in their respective sport.
• And, greatest ≠ favorite.  Earlier this year, we asked American sports fans to name their favorite athletes, and only 4 athletes made both lists:  Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning and Lebron James.  Favorites are good but mostly current; and our “greatest” are good, but mostly retired.
• And, just because sports fans in general give you mad respect doesn’t mean that fans of your specific sport will feel the same way.  Peyton Manning and Lebron James both fall out of the top 5 list for their respective sports when talking to fans who know their sports well.
• And, America’s favorite pastime – either baseball according to popular nomenclature or pro football according to The Harris Poll – are equally represented on the greatest ever list with 3 athletes included.  In fact, no one sport seems to outshine any other, since we have at least one athlete represented from hockey, golf, football, basketball, baseball, and boxing; though in my mind, soccer and tennis are noticeably absent.
• And, there is not one woman – not even one – to be found on the “greatest ever” list.  Since my daughter is now a self-proclaimed tomboy, this strikes me as “super-freaky” (her words, not mine).

So, par usual, America – you got it wrong!  Here’s my list of the top 5 greatest athletes of all time.  Clearly:

1. Babe Didrikson Zaharius – for being the most versatile athlete perhaps ever, heavily decorated in golf, track and field, basketball, but also expert in baseball, swimming, tennis, diving, boxing, volleyball, bowling, billiards, skating and cycling.  
2. Jackie Robinson – for breaking the color barrier and paving the way for millions of sports stars; all class on and off the field.
3. Dikembe Mutombo – for giving as much heart to a hospital in the Congo as to his teammates on the basketball court.
4. Mia Hamm – for inspiring legions of girls (including my daughter) to play soccer as tough as nails and still have fun.
5. Doug Flutie – for being the most enthusiastic sportsman under 6 feet tall that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing first-hand and for casting an anti-magic spell over Buffalo since being pulled before a playoff berth he earned, from which the city and football team will never recover.

BTW, I almost slid Tiger Woods into my top 5 until I realized that if you wear slacks, you can’t really be an athlete, much less the greatest ever.

And your top 5?  Does it matter to you how they behave when they are off-duty – or is their on-field/court/track success all that should be measured?  In case it’s not self-evident from my list, my answer is the former….

Data Snapshot

Michael Jordan is considered the greatest athlete of all time, according to American sports fans. ---The Harris Poll, conducted online between October 5th and 12th, 2009 among 2,293 U.S. adults 18+, of whom 1,494 follow at least one sport

It’s All About the “W”

The Dallas Cowboys may be having trouble notching wins this season and in focusing the attention of their playboy quarterback… But we football fans still remain steadfast in our love.  The Dallas Cowboys (for the 3rd year in a row) are America’s favorite football team, according to a recent Harris Poll. 

Otherwise, all the old rules still apply.  As shown in this blog and in countless other Harris Polls, you are only as good as your last performance at least as far as sports (and politics and entertainment) are concerned.  Teams that are expected to do well – and actually do well – move up in the rankings and those who don’t, don’t. 

The following is the cliff notes version of Harris Interactive’s latest professional football poll.  Bottom line – it’s not about the size of the city (note Green Bay and Indy perennially on the list); it’s somewhat about the superstar (it helps to have a Manning or a Favre); but mostly it’s about the wins (or expected wins in this case as the poll was completed only one week into the season). 

• According to adults who follow professional football, the top 5 teams in order are the Dallas Cowboys, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis Colts, and the New England Patriots.
• Last year’s Superbowl teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals, are ranked #2 and #16 respectively.  And both have seen a jump up from last year.
• The top 10 teams have *26* wins, compared to 16 wins for the bottom 10. 
• In the top 10, only 1 team has a losing record, and in the bottom 10, only 4 teams have a winning one.

It would be interesting to do the poll again today, as I suspect that the 0-4 Tennessee Titans (currently ranked as our 9th favorite) might drop out of the top 10, and the 4-0 New Orleans Saints might move up.  Because the cold, hard truth is… if you don’t win, and you’re not the Dallas Cowboys, you don’t get the love. 

And now a personal plea reserved only for my sports posts:  To the tied-for-27th-favorite-team-in-the-league Buffalo Bills, fire your coach!!!!  I can’t handle the residual heartache via my marriage anymore!