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10/1: Majority of U.S. Residents College Football Fans … Nearly Half Watch NFL & College Ball

October 1, 2010 by  
Filed under Featured, Football, Sports, Sports Bench

54% of U.S. residents are college football fans.  This includes 12% who watch college football a great deal, 10% who enjoy a good amount of it, and 32% who say they follow it a little.  46% do not watch college football at all.

©istockphoto.com/dehooks

©istockphoto.com/dehooks

Men, residents who earn $50,000 or more annually, and those in the Midwest, West, and South are those who are most likely to be college football fans.

Americans, however, are more inclined to be professional football fans than college football fans.  More than two-thirds of U.S. residents — 68% — tune into the NFL at least a little bit.  This includes 20% who watch the sport a great deal, 16% who follow it a good amount, and 32% who catch it a little.  32% do not watch it all.

Although there is little difference among geographic regions, men and Americans younger than 45 years old are more likely to be professional football fans.

Is there an overlap in the proportion of U.S. residents who watch both professional football and college football?  Yes.  Nearly half of Americans — 49% — watch both NFL and college football.  The proportion who watches just professional football outnumbers those who tune into just college football.  Nearly one in five — 19% — check out only the pros tossing the pigskin around while only 5% follow just college teams.  More than one in four residents — 27% — do not watch either professional or college football.

Table: College Football Fans
Table: Professional Football Fans
Table: NFL vs. College Football Watchers

Marist Poll Methodology

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Comments

7 Responses to “10/1: Majority of U.S. Residents College Football Fans … Nearly Half Watch NFL & College Ball”

  1. How The Northeast Is Different Than The Rest of America | Kealthy on October 2nd, 2010 2:52 pm

    [...] Marist poll breaks down who is fans of college and professional football. 20% of Americans follow professional [...]

  2. Matthew Yglesias » The Madness of College Football on October 3rd, 2010 8:28 am

    [...] Jon Chait, a Marist poll offers statistical confirmation of what we all know to be true anecdotally—there’s a huge [...]

  3. Only 4% of the Northeast are real men « a posteriori on October 3rd, 2010 10:29 am

    [...] via [...]

  4. New England roundup #17 « Brian J. Distelberg on October 3rd, 2010 5:09 pm

    [...] Matt Yglesias and Jonathan Chait, evidence from a new Marist poll of another way people in the Northeast differ from the rest of the country: far fewer of them are [...]

  5. Consider Magazine » Blog Archive » How Football Programs Bring Prestige on October 5th, 2010 6:02 pm

    [...] between Matthew Yglesias and Jon Chait of The New Republic (and a Michigan alum) over a Marist poll which found that college football isn’t nearly as popular in the northeast as it is in the [...]

  6. Ana on October 11th, 2010 12:57 pm

    Marist poll breaks down who is fans of college and professional football. 20% of Americans follow professional

  7. Sang Emeru on October 12th, 2010 7:54 pm

    What is the purpose of this page if you don’t mind me asking?

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