Dallas Cowboys are Again America's Favorite Football Team

NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As summer ended, there was a sense of trepidation in the air for football fans.  Would the arrival of fall also mean the arrival of professional football or would the lock-out continue? Luckily, all that was impacted was the pre-season and the season began on time. And, for the fifth year in a row, the Dallas Cowboys are the favorite team of adults who follow professional football. The Pittsburgh Steelers move up from 4th last year to number 2 on the list while the Green Bay Packers remain at number 3. Rounding out the top five favorite football teams are the New England Patriots who move up from number 6 to number 4 and "da" Bears who move up from number 9 last year to 5th this year.

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These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,462 adults surveyed online between September 12 and 19, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Certain teams have moved up or down more than others this year. Some of the largest movers this year include:

• The Detroit Lions moved up 11 places on the list from number 30 last year to number 19 this year;
• The Miami Dolphins moved up 8 places from a tie for number 21 to number 13;
• The Oakland Raiders dropped 8 places, from a tie at number 17 to number 25;
• Two teams moved up 7 places each – The Washington Redskins, from number 15 to number 8, and the New York Jets, from number 16 to a tie for number 9; and,
• Two teams dropped 6 places each – the New Orleans Saints, from number 5 to number 11, and the Arizona Cardinals, from number 11 to a tie at number 17.

For the third year in a row, the Jacksonville Jaguars are at the bottom of the list.

The season may only be a few weeks old but it's never too early to start thinking about the upcoming Super Bowl. One-quarter of Americans who follow professional football (24%) believe the Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl while 23% believe it will be the New England Patriots.  Smaller numbers believe it will be the Philadelphia Eagles (8%), the Pittsburgh Steelers (6%) or the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints or Baltimore Ravens (4% each). All teams, including the team ranked 32nd, the Jacksonville Jaguars, have their die-hard fans and at least a few people believe their team will win the Super Bowl this season.

Who follows football?

Even with the threat of a strike-shortened season, football remains very popular and over half of Americans (55%) say they follow professional football, a slight increase from last year when 53% said so. This is also the highest number to say they follow football since 1998 when 55% said so.  As might be expected, men are more likely than women to follow football (71% versus 41%). Close to three in five (57%) of both Gen Xers (those 35-46) and Baby Boomers (those 47-65) say they follow football as do 55% of Matures (those 66 and older) but just over half (52%) of Echo Boomers (those 18-34)  say they do. There is also a regional difference as almost three in five Easterners (58%) and Midwesterners (58%) and over half of Southerners (56%) say they follow professional football compared to just under half of Westerners (49%). And, with the presidential election in the not too distant future, it is interesting to note there is a partisan difference in who follows football. Just over half of Independents do (53%) as do 56% of Democrats compared to over three in five Republicans (62%).

So What?

While it may not be America's pastime, a fall Sunday afternoon just would not be the same for a majority of Americans without football on television and this year that came close to happening. Luckily, these fans were spared the strike and it seems they appreciate football a bit more than last year. Hopefully both the NFL owners and the players understand that without these fans, there isn't much of a game for them to play.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between September 12 to 19, 2011 among 2,462 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 1,361 follow professional football. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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The Harris Poll® #105, October 5, 2011
By Regina Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, Public Relations and Youth Research, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American and European offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive