Sports Michael Jordan Is America's Favorite Sports

The Harris Poll

THE HARRIS POLL #86 Friday, December 20,1996

MICHAEL JORDAN IS AMERICA'S FAVORITE SPORTS STAR FOR THE FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW

Troy Aikman moves up to #2 and John Elway to #3

Approximately same numbers mention football (24%) and basketball (23%) stars. Baseball (8%) a distant third.

by Humphrey Taylor

Michael Jordan retains his place as America's favorite sports star, a position he has held each of the previous three years. Troy Aikman moves up from #5 to second position this year, and John Elway moves up to the #3 slot. Dan Marino, Shaquille O'Neal and Emmitt Smith take the next three positions.

These are the results of a Harris Poll of 1,000 adults surveyed between November 8 and 11.

Aikman's popularity may be due, in part, to his being the quarterback of America's most popular (and least popular) football team, the Dallas Cowboys, He is the recipient of the credit for his team's recent success.

John Elway and his team, Denver Broncos, have the best record in the NFL. Many think this may be Denver's year to win the Super Bowl. Elway is a certain Hall of Famer who has lost three Super Bowls and, therefore, this year the public is pulling for him.

Four sports stars who were not in the top 10 list last year made it into this year's list -- John Elway (#3),Steve Young (#7), Brent Favre (#8) and Mike Tyson (#lo).

The four stars who drop out of the top 10 this year are Cal Ripkin, Barry Sanders, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Magic Johnson.

Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. 11 1 Fifth Avenue NYC (21 2) 539-9600 Altogether, almost equal numbers of the public named football stars (24%) and basketball stars (23%). By comparison, baseball stars were named by only 8%. i This survey is further evidence of the extraordinary popularity of Michael Jordan. Other great sports players can only stand in his shadow.

Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman and CEO of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. TABLE 1

FAVORITE SPORTS STAR

"Who is your favorite sports star?

Current POSITION IN Position 1993 1994 1995

Michael Jordan Troy Aikman John Elway Dan Marino Shaquille O'Neal Emmitt Smith Steve Young Brent Favre Joe Montana Mike Tyson

* Not listed in that year

Cal Ripkin (was #6) Barry Sanders (was #8) Ken Griffey, Jr. (was #9) Magic Johnson (was #lo)

TABLE 2

FAVORITE STAR (BY TYPE OF SPORTS)

Football stars Basketball stars Baseball stars Boxing Hockey Tennis Golf Other sports NoneINot sure Methodology d* This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between November 8 to 11, among a nationwide cross section of 1,000 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty ,that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

Contact Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. 111 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003, (212) 539-9697, for complete demographic details for the questions in this release.

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