The University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Laboratory (PORL) released a new poll Thursday morning that shows almost 63 percent of registered Republicans in Duval County said they were less likely to watch NFL games because of the national anthem protest.
Fifty-seven percent of GOP voters said they were less likely to attend games.
The impact was much less pronounced among Democrats, with less than 14 percent saying they were less likely to watch and 11 percent saying they were less likely to attend.
Eighteen percent of Democrats interviewed said they were more likely to watch and attend games because of the protests.
“The really interesting aspect is how politically polarized the issue has become—Democrats, on balance, are more likely to watch or go to games, but Republicans are much less likely to watch and go to games,” said Dr. Michael Binder, UNF Public Opinion Research Laboratory faculty director in an email to WJCT News.
The survey also found approximately 70 percent of Duval County registered voters watch at least an hour of NFL games per week.
Approval rates for Jaguars owner Shad Khan and Coach Doug Marrone were also gauged in the poll. Here’s the breakdown of those and other findings:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Shad Khan is handling his job as the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League?
Strongly Approve: 35%
Somewhat Approve: 31%
Somewhat Disapprove: 10%
Strongly Disapprove: 13%
Don’t Know: 11%
Refusal: 1%
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Doug Marrone is handling his job as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League?
Strongly Approve: 21%
Somewhat Approve: 37%
Somewhat Disapprove: 9%
Strongly Disapprove: 12%
Don’t Know: 20%
Refusal: 2%
Approximately how much time do you spend watching NFL football on TV during the season; if you are not sure, please use your best estimate:
Never watch the NFL: 30%
1 to 5 hours per week: 46%
6 to 10 hours per week: 15%
11 to 15 per week: 3%
16 or more hours per week: 5%
Don’t Know: 1%
Approximately how many National Football League games do you attend in person per season; if you are not sure, please use your best estimate:
Never attend: 50%
About once in the last two seasons: 16%
About once per season: 11%
A few times per season: 16%
More than 4 times per season: 7%
Don’t Know: <1%
Refusal: -
As you may know, some athletes and sports teams have begun not standing during the national anthem in order to protest police violence against the black community in the United States.
Does this make you more likely, less likely or has no influence on you to watch NFL games on television?
More Likely: 12%
Less Likely: 35%
Has no influence: 50%
Don’t Know: 3%
Refusal: 1%
As you may know, some athletes and sports teams have begun not standing during the national anthem in order to protest police violence against the black community in the United States.
Does this make you more likely, less likely or has no influence on you attending an NFL game?
More Likely: 13%
Less Likely: 32%
Has no influence: 53%
Don’t Know: 1%
Refusal: 1%
Education
Less than high school: 2%
High school graduate: 19%’
Some college: 49%
College graduate: 20%
Post graduate degree: 10%
Don’t Know: -
Refusal: -
Race
White (not Hispanic): 60%
Black (not Hispanic): 28%
Hispanic: 5%
Other: 8%
Gender
Male: 45%
Female: 55%
Party Registration
Republican: 38%
Democrat: 41%
NPA and other: 22%
Age
18 to 24: 12%
25 to 34: 19%
35 to 44: 16%
45 to 55: 18%
56 to 64: 18%
65 and older: 18%
UNF reported the margin of sampling error for the total sample is +/- 4.3 percentage points. The crosstabs by partisanship, gender, age, race and education can be found here.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
