GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Following his impressive win in the 2000 U.S. Open Championship, golfer Tiger Woods is the highest rated of several athletes evaluated in the latest Gallup poll. Nearly nine out of ten Americans -- 88% -- say they have a favorable opinion of the man widely regarded as the world's greatest golfer, while only 5% say they have an unfavorable opinion of him.
While Tiger Woods is the most positively rated athlete, the public gives several other sports stars high ratings. For example, retired basketball superstar Michael Jordan receives favorable ratings from 83% of the public, with only 8% giving him an unfavorable rating. Baseball slugger Mark McGwire receives favorable ratings from 72% of Americans, which is down from a previous measure in 1998 (87%), shortly after he shattered baseball's single-season home run record. A greater proportion of Americans now say they have "no opinion" of McGwire -- 12% compared to 5% in 1998, but very few view him negatively (6% now compared to 3% in 1998). Shaquille O'Neal, professional basketball's Most Valuable Player in both the regular season and the playoffs, is rated favorably by 70% of the public.
Not All Athletes Well-Known or Well-Liked
Woods, O'Neal and McGwire are arguably the top players in their
sport. But being the top competitor in a sport is no guarantee of a
place in the public's consciousness. Two athletes widely considered
to be the best in their sport, Kurt Warner in professional football
and Pete Sampras in tennis, are still relatively unknown despite
their athletic accomplishments. In fact, a majority of Americans
(51%) say they have never heard of Warner, the 1999 National
Football League regular season and Super Bowl Most Valuable Player,
and an additional 17% have no opinion of him. Sampras, who shares
the record for most career tennis grand-slam titles won, is only
slightly better known, as 37% have not heard of him and 17% have no
opinion. Both Warner and Sampras, though, are viewed much more
favorably than unfavorably by those who are familiar with them: 41%
of the public have a favorable opinion of Sampras compared to just
5% who view him unfavorably, while 28% have a positive view of
Warner compared to only 4% with negative opinions of the St. Louis
Rams quarterback.
One athlete whom Americans do tend to perceive negatively is Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker. He made headlines last fall in a controversial Sports Illustrated interview during which he made disparaging remarks about the city of New York -- especially its ethnic and minority groups -- resulting in a two-week suspension by Major League Baseball. Since that time, Rocker's words and actions have only added to the controversy swirling around him. The poll shows that 36% of Americans say they have a negative opinion of Rocker, while only 13% have a favorable impression of him. Even though Rocker's comments and subsequent actions have received a lot of publicity, many Americans -- 41% -- have never heard of Rocker (an additional 10% have no opinion of him). Rocker will receive even more publicity this weekend as he pitches in New York for the first time since his comments were made public.
A New Sports Figure?
While much of the recent controversy in the world of sports has
centered around John Rocker, ABC Sports raised many eyebrows
recently by adding comedian Dennis Miller to its Monday Night
Football broadcasting team. The addition of the former "Saturday
Night Live" performer and current HBO talk-show host has not
created much enthusiasm among Americans. In fact, the vast majority
of Americans (78%) say that adding Miller to the crew will have no
effect on the likelihood they will watch Monday Night Football.
Just 12% say they are now more likely to watch while 9% say they
are less likely to watch. Among those who are regular or occasional
viewers of Monday Night Football, the findings are very similar.
For non-viewers of the program, nearly nine of ten (85%) say hiring
Miller will not affect their decision to watch, and only 7%
indicate that adding Miller to the broadcast will make them more
likely to watch.
Although Miller's addition to the broadcasting team will apparently have little effect on how many people watch Monday Night Football, among those who do watch regularly, 58% approve of the move while just 22% disapprove. Another 20% have no opinion on the matter.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with randomly
selected national samples of 1,021 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted June 22-25, 2000, and 1,020 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted June 23-25, 2000. For results based on either sample, one
can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus
3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him. First,… . How about … ? [RANDOM ORDER]
|
Favorable |
Unfavorable |
Never heard of |
No opinion |
Tiger Woods
|
2000 Jun 22-25 |
88% |
5 |
2 |
5 |
Shaquille O'Neal
|
2000 Jun 22-25 |
70% |
12 |
6 |
12 |
John Rocker
|
2000 Jun 22-25 |
13% |
36 |
41 |
10 |
Mark McGwire
|
2000 Jun 22-25 |
72% |
6 |
10 |
12 |
|
1998 Dec 28-29 |
87% |
3 |
5 |
5 |
Michael Jordan
|
2000 Jun 22-25 |
83% |
8 |
1 |
8 |
Pete Sampras
|
2000 Jun 22-25 |
41% |
5 |
37 |
17 |
Kurt Warner
|
2000 Jun 22-25 |
28% |
4 |
51 |
17 |
How often do you watch Monday Night Football -- regularly, occasionally, or never?
|
Regularly |
Occasionally |
Never |
No opinion |
|
|
2000 Jun 23-25 |
24% |
32 |
44 |
* |
As you may know, ABC recently selected Dennis Miller, the HBO talk show host and former Saturday Night Live performer, as a new Monday Night Football broadcaster. As a result of the addition of Dennis Miller to Monday Night Football, are you more likely to watch the program, less likely to watch, or will it have no effect on you?
|
More likely |
Less likely |
No effect |
No opinion |
|
|
2000 Jun 23-25 |
12% |
9 |
78 |
1 |
RESULTS BELOW BASED ON -- 576 -- REGULAR OR OCCASIONAL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL VIEWERS; +/- 4 PERCENTAGE POINTS
|
More likely |
Less likely |
No effect |
No opinion |
|
|
2000 Jun 23-25 |
16% |
10 |
73 |
1 |
Do you approve or disapprove of ABC's decision to hire HBO talk show host and former Saturday Night Live regular Dennis Miller as a Monday Night Football broadcaster?
BASED ON -- 243 -- REGULAR MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL VIEWERS; +/- 7 PERCENTAGE POINTS
|
Approve |
Disapprove |
No opinion |
|
|
2000 Jun 23-25 |
58% |
22 |
20 |
* Less than 0.5%