Posted on 06/28/2006 6:19:45 AM PDT by Tatze
World Cup Scores Only Small Audience
Only 6% Following Tournament Very Closely
Despite a high level of media coverage for the World Cup soccer tournament, three-fourths of Americans (78%) are not following the action very closely if at all. A Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 adults found that just 6% are following the tournament very closely.
Nine percent (9%) of men are paying close attention along with 3% of women.
The Super Bowl remains the biggest sport championship in terms of fan appeal. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans say it’s their favorite championship to watch. The World Series is the only other championship to reach double digits—12% of adults say it’s their favorite.
One-fourth of all Americans (25%) say they don’t want any sports championships.
Despite the general lack of interest in the World Cup by the US audience, the soccer tournament is more popular than the NBA basketball championship and the NHL’s Stanley Cup hockey title. Both of those events were being held at the same time as the World Cup.
Fourteen percent (14%) of Americans say they played soccer in an organized league at some point in their life.
Fifty-two percent (52%) of Americans believe there is a professional soccer league in the United States (and they’re right).
The survey was conducted before the U.S. soccer team was eliminated. However, few were surprised by the lack of success--just 5% of the nation’s adults thought it was very likely the U.S. team would win the tournament.
The national telephone survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted by Rasmussen Reports June 19-20, 2006. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Well, that's a bit of a straw-man. I'm suprised that anyone thought this. In the first round the rule is: Brazil, Argentina, Italy are "very likely to win the World Cup" - no one else is!
It would be hard to tear Americans away from football, NASCAR, and baseball. I'm sure Basketball ranks right up there among them as well.
In many of the "soccer countries", soccer is really the only pro sport that draws much of a crowd anyway.
Following what?
Thats true. I'm surprised that many thought we had a chance of winning.
I'm sure we could field a better team, but I recall hearing something on the radio that how the team was picked would not produce the most ideal team. How is the US team picked anyway??
No wonder, the most boring game in the U.S. has to be soccer. I was forced to play it for several years from grade school to HS in CA back in the 60s. We all hated it then and couldn't wait for football, Bball, softball, and wrestling.
Did the US have a team? Who's playing?
I know that people who don't watch NASCAR are usually surprised to find that NASCAR draws such large attending crowds. A while back, someone bragged to me about a football game drawing some 70,000 fans. I think Kansas speedway is the only track with less than 120,000 seats.
Soccer.
Easy to understand. It's "intenational." Don't need hand/eye coordination. It's safer than may other sports. All the "soccer parents" who didn't play baseball or football as a kid love it. It's unisex. The uniforms look very "Euro." Ties are celebrated.
Soccer. The perfect Liberal sport.
6%!
what's the World Cup?
Football kills Nascar. Have a Nascar race in every city on the same day where there is a NFL football game and Nascar will get killed on attendance.
I thought the World Cup was a sailing thing...
They say that 6% of Americans are following the tournament closely? I wonder; is that 6% of Americans, or 6% of people in America? I bet there's a significant difference.
Soccer is fine for kids sports, but Real Football is played on the gridiron.
What's a World Cup?
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