NY Yankees America's Favorite Baseball Team for Ninth Year in a Row

NEW YORK, July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- It's that time of the season again – time for the All Star Game. Major League Baseball pauses to celebrate their all stars, the teams get a few days off to rest and the race to the end of the summer and post-season play begins in earnest.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100517/NY06256LOGO )

It is also time to see who America's Favorite Baseball team is. Among those who follow the sport, the New York Yankees again win the honor of being "America's Favorite," as they have each year since 2003. In the second spot on the list are their long time arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, followed by the Atlanta Braves at number three; both of these teams' positions are unchanged from the last two years.

Rounding out the top five are the Chicago Cubs at number four, rising one spot from last year, and, in a tie for the number five spot, the Los Angeles Dodgers, up from number eight, and the New York Mets, who were number 6 last year.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,163 adults surveyed online between June 13 and 20, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Looking at the bottom half of the top ten favorite baseball teams, at number seven are the Philadelphia Phillies, down from number four last year; the Texas Rangers (#8, up from tied for #12); the St. Louis Cardinals (#9, up from #10); and the Detroit Tigers (#10, up from a tie for #12).

A few teams have made large moves on this year's list. Moving down eight spots, from #11 last year to #19 this year, are the Milwaukee Brewers. Also making a large move down are the San Francisco Giants who went down 7 spots, from #7 to #14. In the opposite direction, the Baltimore Orioles moved up 7 spots, going from a tie for #20 to #13. Two teams moved six places on the list: the Houston Astros went up from #28 to #22 and the San Diego Padres went down from a tie at #23 to a tie at #29.

Winning it all in October

Looking ahead to the end of the season, the ALCS could be a Boston/New York battle again as 20% of those who follow baseball each think the Yankees and the Red Sox will win the World Series in the fall. And they may face the Phillies as 19% believe they will win the World Series. Normally, each team usually has their die-hard fans as at least someone thinks their team will win it all. But this year, no one said the Florida Marlins, the Seattle Mariners or the Toronto Blue Jays will win the World Series.

Following baseball

Over one-third of Americans (36%) say they follow Major League Baseball, a number that is the same as last year but down from 2009 when 41% said they followed baseball. Looking at who follows baseball, men are more likely to do so than women (48% versus 25%). Also, Hispanics are more likely to be followers of the sport, compared to both Whites and African Americans (45% versus 34% and 38%). There is also a regional divide, as more than two in five Easterners (45%) say they follow baseball, compared to just over one-third of Midwesterners (35%) and 31% of Southerners.

So what?

Currently, two of the major sports are in lockouts and there is uncertainty on whether the football season will start on time in September and what might happen to the basketball season. But it is summer and that means baseball. Whether it is Derek Jeter's 3000th hit or the amazing pitching staff of the Philadelphia Phillies, each baseball season brings something to watch. Granted, there is also the Roger Clemens perjury trial to remind fans that sometimes there is a bad side to baseball. But, for this week, the eyes are all on the field in Phoenix celebrating the ups, not the downs of this American pastime.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States June 13 to 20, 2011 among 2,163 adults (aged 18 and over) of whom 754 follow major league baseball. 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® #82, July 11, 2011
By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll, PR 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, European, and Asian 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