Despite Jordan's Retirement, Nba Champs Chicago Bulls Remain Most Popular Team

The Harris Poll

8% As THE HARRIS POLL 1w#4 For release: Monday, January 21, 1994 DESPITE JORDAN'S RETIREMENT, NBA CHAMPS CHICAGO BULLS REMAIN MOST POPULAR TEAM

by Humphrey Taylor

For the second year in a row the Chicago Bulls remain the most popular NBA team far surpassing the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, the second and third place teams. Chicago's position is solid in spite of the surprise retirement of their superstar Michael Jordan. By many accounts, Jordan is considered the most popular and most talented player of all time.

Just under one third (29 percent) of those adults who follow professional basketball say the Bulls are their favorite team. The Lakers and the Celtics are at 11 percent and 10 percent respectively, virtually unchanged from December 1992. One year ago a slightly higher, 34 percent, favored the Chicago team.

Y The Bulls also add to their distinction by being picked as basketball fans' least favorite team (12 percent), slightly ahead of the Detroit Pistons at 9 percent. The Celtics, Lakers, and Phoenix Suns are tied for third place at 6 percent. Last year the Pistons were in the number one spot (1 1 percent) with the Bulls tied with the Celtics for third place (8 percent). The Bulls being both the most and least favorite team follows the same pattern that the Harris Poll has found in other sports. For example, the Dallas Cowboys are also considered the most and least favorite football team. In addition to being the most favored team in pro basketball, the NBA champs are one of the most popular teams in all professional sports. Their 29 percent rating is almost double the 16 percent of football fans who pick the Cowboys as their favorite or the 13 percent of baseball fans who like the Atlanta Braves.

For the most part the favorable ratings of pro basketball teams have changed little in one year. The big exception to this is the Suns who have gone from 2 percent to 7 percent. This is probably due to the Suns performance in last year's playoffs and fdsagainst the Bulls and the controversy that often surrounds their star forward, Charles Barkley .

Lw Louis Harris & Associates 630 Fifth Avenue NYC This special Harris Poll conducted interviews among 1,001 adults from Dec. 15 and 19, 1993. The poll found that 35 percent of adults follow professional basketball. This is exactly the same as the 1992 numbers. In addition, the survey found 28 percent of adults follow college basketball, a slightly higher percentage than the 26 percent who followed this sport in 1992.

As was the case in 1992, support for college basketball teams is much more fragmented than for professional teams. Duke remains in the number one spot with 8 percent closely followed by its arch rival North Carolina at 7 percent. Michigan and Indiana are tied as the third most popular team at 6 percent.

The demographic profile of professional and college basketball followers tends to be similar though the appeal of the NBA is broader. Basketball is particularly popular among men, African-Americans, the young, and the affluent. Again this follows the same pattern as last year. The NBA's appeal is slightly broader probably due to the more aggressive marketing efforts on the part of professional teams.

However, both professional football and baseball attract more followers than basketball. TABLE 1

WHO FOLLOWS PROFESSIONAL AND COLLEGE BASKETBALL

"Do you follow professional basketball, or not?"

"Do you follow college basketball, or not?"

Follow Professional College Basketball Basketball Dec. '92 Dec. '93 Dec. '92 Dec. '93 % % % %

All Adults

-Sex Men Women

RaceIEthnicitv White Black Hispanic

Region East Midwest South West & 18-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-65 65 and over

Household 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 $50,00 1 and over TABLE 2

FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM

Base: Follow professional basketball

"Which is your favorite professional NBA team?"

"And which is your least favorite professional NBA team?"

Favorite Least Favorite Dec. '92 Dec. '93 Dec. '92 Dec. '93 % % % %

Chicago Bulls Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers New York Knicks Detroit Pistons Milwaukee Bucks Philadelphia 76ers Orlando Magic Cleveland Cavaliers

L Portland Trail Blazers Charlotte Hornets Houston Rockets Seattle Supersonics Phoenix Suns Golden State Warriors San Antonio Spurs Sacramento Kings New Jersey Nets Denver Nuggets Los Angeles Clippers Minnesota Timberwolves Indiana Pacers Utah Jazz Atlanta Hawks Dallas Mavericks Miami Heat Washington Bullets Not surelrefused TABLE 3

FAVORITE COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM

Base: Follow College Basketball

Total %

Duke North Carolina (UNC) Michigan Indiana Kentucky Arkansas Ohio State Georgetown Georgia Tech Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) Notre Dame UCLA Kansas Iowa West Virginia St. John's Illinois

LEAST FAVORITE COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM

Base: Follow College Basketball

Total %

Duke Indiana Georgetown Notre Dame Michigan North Carolina (UNC) Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) NC State Florida St TABLE 4

FOLLOWERS OF SPORTS

Follow Professional Football 46 (Aug. '93)

Follow Baseball 38 (June '93)

Follow Professional Basketball 35 (Dec. '93)

Follow College Basketball 28 (Dec. '93) METHODOLOGY

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between Dec. 15 19, among a nationwide cross section of 1,001 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line wit h 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., Information Services, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 1011 1, (212) 698-9697, for complete demographic details for the questions in this release.