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The arris Poll

THE HARRIS POLL 1995 # 59 For Release: Sunday, September 24, 1995

DALLAS COWBOYS MOST POPULAR FOOTBALL TEAM BUT 49ers ARE FAVORED TO WIN '96

by Humphrey Taylor

The Cowboys are the nation's most popular football team but the , the current champions, are favored as the team most likely to win this season's Super Bowl, to be played in Phoenix, Arizona on January 28th.

These are the results of a Harris Poll of 1,005 adults surveyed between August 31 and September 3, 1995.

The Cowboys are clear winners of the popularity stakes; 19 percent of all football fans say they are their favorites, followed by the 49ers with 12 percent. Three teams tie for third place with six percent each, the , the and the Dolphins. Five percent pick the .

There have been a number of changes in the popularity of different teams since Harris asked these questions two years ago. All of the six most popular teams, except for the Giants, receive more popularity votes this year. For example, those who pick the Cowboys are up from 16 percent to 19 percent, and the 49ers are up from eight to twelve percent.

Louis Harris & Associates, Inc. 111 Fifth Avenue NYC (212) 539-9600 Teams which have slipped in popularity since 1993 include the Bears (down from equal second on the list to equa.1 seventh) the Oakland Raiders, the Washington Redskins and the .

Other interesting findings in this Harris survey about football include:

The number of adult Americans who follow professional football is virtually unchanged at 49 percent (in contrast to the huge drop in those who follow major league reported in a recent Harris Poll).

The Cowboys top not only the list of most popular teams but also the list of least favorite teams (14 percent feel this way). Their celebrity -- like that of the baseball team -- both attracts and annoys fans. The Cowboys are followed on this "least favorite" list by the Raiders.

Fully 41 percent of football fans think that the 49ers will d repeat as Super Bowl champions. They are followed by the Cowboys (23 percent) and the Dolphins (6 percent). No other team gets the nod from more than 3 percent of football fans.

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

WHO FOLLOWS PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

"Do you follow professional football, or not?"

All Adults

Sex Men Women

Aae 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-64 65 +

Income $7,500 or less $7,501 to $15,000 $15,001 to $25,000 $25,001 to $35,000 $35,001 to $50,000 $50,000 + TABLE 2

FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE NFL TEAMS Base: Follow professional football

"What is your favorite team?"

"What is your least favorite National Football League team?"

"Which team do you think will win the Super Bowl this year?" Who Will Win the FAVORITE LEAST FAVORITE Super Bowl 1993 1995 1993 1995 Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo 16 19 12 14 2 3 San Francisco 49ers 8 12 4 7 4 1 New York Giants 6 6 4 3 2 Pittsburgh Steelers 3 6 4 3 3 3 6 4 3 6 Philadelphia Eagles 3 5 2 3 2 8 4 5 5 1 2 4 2 2 1 Oakland Raiders 6 3 6 9 1 Washington Redskins 5 3 6 3 1 d 3 3 4 2 1 3 3 3 1 Vikings 3 3 1 1 1 2 3 4 2 2 Cleveland Browns 4 2 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 Saints 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 Falcons 2 1 2 2 Houston Oilers 2 1 1 2 San Diego Chargers 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 St. Louis Rams 2 1 3 1 1 2 * * 3 5 NA 1 NA 1 NA NA * Not sure 4 2 2 0 16 9

= Less than 0.5 percent. METHODOLOGY

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between August 31 and September 3, among a nationwide cross section of 1,005 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 niore 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 screerring (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 National Council on Public Polls.

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

Compuserve address: 76702,2063 Other E-mail: infoservQIha.gannett.com

COPYRIGHT 1995 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. ISSN 0895-7983