In his autobiography, George Halas recounts the Bears` march to the 1941 National Football League title, and ends it by saying, ”Chicago had the fever.” It still does, according to a new Tribune poll.
A whopping 85 percent of those polled said they take an interest in pro football, including 59 percent who described themselves as being ”very interested” in it. By contrast, 74 percent expressed some interest in baseball, 54 percent in basketball, 42 percent in hockey and only 26 percent in soccer.
Thirty-one percent said they are very interested in baseball, 17 percent in basketball, 11 percent in hockey and 6 percent in soccer.
Interest in professional sports is generally high among both men and women and in all income brackets, according to the telephone survey of 1,004 adults in Cook, Du Page, Lake, Will and McHenry Counties. But the level of interest tends to rise a little when the level of family income does, the poll found.
Of women polled, 48 percent said they are very interested in professional football. When the ”somewhat interested” women are added in, there are 78 percent paying attention to the game.
Among men, 69 percent described themselves as being very interested in football, with another 24 percent somewhat interested. The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 4 percent.
The survey was taken earlier this month, at the height of the football season, which may have slanted the results somewhat. Baseball`s numbers were impressive but not equal to football`s–at least not this month, when the Bears are heading into the NFL playoffs and hoping to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
The Bears were chosen as the favorite professional football team by 82 percent of those polled in the Chicago area. Nine percent picked another pro team and 9 percent had no favorite.
About 36 percent of male respondents described themselves as being very interested in baseball, and 46 percent said they are somewhat interested. Only a quarter of the women interviewed said they are very interested in baseball, and 41 percent are somewhat interested.
On the burning question of which is the Chicago area`s favorite baseball team, the Cubs were picked by 48 percent of those polled compared to 23 percent who picked the White Sox. Eleven percent chose some other professional baseball team, and 18 percent said they had no favorite baseball team.
The Cubs proved especially popular in Lake and McHenry Counties, where 56 percent and 54 percent of those polled said they favored the Cubs.
In suburban Cook County, the Cubs attracted 52 percent. In the city of Chicago, 43 percent said they favor the Cubs.
In Will County, 49 percent of the residents polled voted for the Cubs, and in Du Page County, it was 47 percent.
The White Sox scored best in Du Page County, where 28 percent of those polled picked them.
In Chicago proper, only 24 percent picked the Sox as their favorite team. The Sox were favored by 23 percent in suburban Cook County, 21 percent in Will County and 17 percent in McHenry County.
The Sox need to hold a bat day for Lake County residents. In Lake County, only 12 percent of those polled picked the Sox as their favorite team. The greatest disparity in sports interest by gender was found with hockey and basketball.
Fifty-five percent of the men polled said they are either very or somewhat interested in professional hockey, but only 29 percent of the women placed themselves in either category. As far as pro basketball is concerned, 65 percent of men are either very or somewhat interested, but only 43 percent of women are.
Soccer has little support among either gender. Seventy-two percent of men said they are ”not at all interested” in soccer, and 77 percent of women agreed.
The greatest disparity by race concerned basketball. Forty-four percent of blacks said they are very interested in professional basketball, compared to only 11 percent of whites. Thirty-seven percent of both blacks and whites said they are somewhat interested in basketball.
Whites showed a slightly higher interest overall in baseball, 75 percent compared to 69 percent for blacks. But blacks showed a slightly higher interest in football, 89 percent compared to 85 percent.
The races were divided into three categories of ”white,” ”black,”
and ”other,” which included Hispanics and Asians.
The ”other” category showed up prominently on the question of professional soccer. Twelve percent of respondents in this category said they are very interested in soccer, compared to only 6 percent of whites and 5 percent of blacks.
The poll also asked people what the total income of their family was before taxes and whether anyone in the family owned a season ticket for any Chicago professional sports team. This turned up one result some might consider amazing.
Eleven percent of those polled said that someone in their family holds a season ticket to Bears games. Of this group, more than a third said their total family income was less than $25,000 a year, which means some people will spend hard-to-get money to watch the Bears at Soldier Field.
As expected, about two-thirds of all families possessing a season ticket for either the Bears, the Cubs or the Sox, had incomes in excess of $25,000 a year.
Slightly more than half of Cub season ticket-holders had annual family incomes exceeding $50,000. By contrast, 66 percent of Sox season ticket-holders have incomes of less than $50,000.
The level of interest in professional sports tends to be related to annual family income, with people in the $35,000-$49,999 bracket displaying the greatest interest. For instance, almost three quarters of those whose families had an annual income of less than $15,000 told interviewers that they are interested in major league baseball. This percentage rose to 81 percent for those whose families earned from $35,000 to $49,999.
The same phenomenon seems to occur with professional football. About three quarters of those with family incomes of less than $15,000 a year expressed an interest in pro football; in the $35,000-$49,999 bracket, the figure was 91 percent.
At the highest income level on the poll, however, ”$50,000 or more,”
interest dipped a bit. Of people in that category, only 85 percent expressed an interest in football, and 75 percent expressed an interest in baseball.
Those polled were divided into three age groups: 18 to 34, 35 to 54 and 55 plus.
Age did not seem to separate the respondents in any surprising way–with one exception.
With four of the sports–baseball was the exception–the youngest group and the oldest group showed slightly higher interest than the middle group.
The middle group is perhaps more preoccupied with striving for success at work.
With all four of these sports–football, basketball, hockey and soccer
–the 18 to 34 group showed the highest level of interest.
With baseball, however, the highest level of interest was found in the 55 and over age group–80 percent. This compares to 75 percent for the 18 to 34 age group.
The difference is small, but it goes against the trend found in the other sports.
