Mixed Feelings Surround Tiger's Return

As he steps back onto the golf course, Tiger Woods still has the sort of disapproval rating one might expect more of someone who'd just pushed through an unpopular healthcare-reform bill.Conducted on the eve of his return to the pro-golf circuit at this year's Masters tourney, The Economist/YouGov polling found 9 percent of respondents voicing a "very favorable" and 23 percent a "somewhat favorable" opinion of Woods, vs. 26 percent "somewhat unfavorable" and 29 percent "very unfavorable." The rest dared not to have an opinion on this issue.Such disapproval notwithstanding, Woods continues to be a net plus for golf telecasts. Nineteen percent of respondents said they're more likely to watch golf on TV if they know Woods is playing, while 11 percent said they're less likely to watch under those circumstances. The rest said it makes no difference.Another part of the poll suggests Americans have not been unfailingly transfixed by the Woods saga. Asked how closely they've "followed news about Tiger Woods returning to golf after taking time off after his car accident and his extramarital affairs became public," just 7 percent said they've followed it "very closely." Another 30 percent reported following such news "somewhat closely," while a majority said they've followed it either "not very closely" (37 percent) or "not at all" (26 percent).That's likely true in part because pro golf doesn't have a huge fan base. When respondents were asked to cite the sports they "follow on a regular basis and/or consider yourself to be a fan of," PGA golf was picked by 14 percent, putting it just ahead of NHL hockey (12 percent) and just behind NBA basketball (16 percent) and college basketball (17 percent). (Note that the polling was conducted just as the NCAA basketball tournament was front-page news.)NFL football was in a class by itself, with 43 percent saying they're fans of it. Big-league baseball came in a bit ahead of college football (27 percent vs. 25 percent). The most striking finding is that 37 percent of respondents in this supposedly sports-crazy country said they aren't fans of any of those sports.Sports fandom is not a disproportionately blue-collar phenomenon. In a breakdown of the data by household income, 41 percent of respondents in the under-$40,000 cohort said they don't follow any of the sports about which the poll inquired. Just 29 percent of the $100,000-plusers said the same. Truer to stereotype, though, women were much more likely than men to say they aren't fans of any of those sports (45 percent vs. 28 percent). While baseball's fan base has a reputation for skewing old, the survey found little evidence of that. But this was true of PGA golf: 28 percent of the 65-and-older respondents said they follow it, vs. 14 percent of the 30-64-year-olds and 7 percent of the 18-29s.See also: "Nike's 'Earl and Tiger' Spot Causes a Stir"

Brand Marketing

Mixed Feelings Surround Tiger's Return

Mark Dolliver

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Mark Dolliver