THE PEOPLE SPEAK
• One month into the NFL lockout—with the draft not even four weeks away and with the absence of professional football in 2011 finally settling in as a real possibility—seems a good time to put a finger to the pulse of NFL fandom. What's the mood? To find out, SI contracted the independent market-research firm M&RR, which polled 314 randomly selected self-described diehards, ages 18 years and older, on how they viewed the ongoing labor dispute and what a football-less fall might look like. (Margin of error: plus/minus 5.5 percentage points.) Whether you're Jerry Jones (right), Ray Rice or Bill from Buffalo, you ought to see these results.
SHOULD FORMER PLAYERS RECEIVE LIFETIME MEDICAL BENEFITS?
YES
45.3%
NO
34.2%
UNSURE
20.6%
WHO'S TO BLAME?
EQUAL BLAME
55.3%
OWNERS
23.1%
UNSURE
12.3%
NFL PA
9.3%
AGES 18 TO 34
Owners 26.4%
NFLPA 9.5%
Equal blame 45.8%
Unsure 18.4%
35 TO 54
Owners 24.7%
NFLPA 6.7%
Equal blame 62.1%
Unsure 6.4%
55 AND OLDER
Owners 11.9%
NFLPA 14.2%
Equal blame 63.5%
Unsure 10.4%
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ISSUES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NFL LABOR DISPUTE?
ROOKIE WAGE SCALE 63.4%
PROPOSED 18-GAME REGULAR SEASON 69.2%
OWNERS' PROFITS 85.7%
PLAYERS' SALARIES 86.5%
PLAYERS' HEALTH AND PENSION BENEFITS 76.7%
INJURY COMPENSATION 70.3%
WILL THERE BE A FULL NFL REGULAR SEASON WITHOUT REPLACEMENTS IN 2011?
YES 53%
NO 47%
AMONG
AGES 18-34
YES 59.7%
NO 40.3%
55 AND OLDER
YES 36.7%
NO 63.3%
FANTASY PLAYERS
YES 59%
NO 41%
IF THE 2011 SEASON IS CANCELED, WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE MONEY YOU MIGHT HAVE SPENT ON GAME TICKETS, FANTASY FEES AND/OR PAY-TV PACKAGES?
"take a vacation with my husband"
"buy more video games"
"I'm sure my wife will think of something"
"fix up my truck"
"find new activities to replace spending my hard-earned money on selfish rich people"
"put money in my kids' Christmas funds account"
"take my kids to Disney World"
"enjoy better beers"
"give it to the offering at church"
WILL YOU WATCH THE NFL IF REPLACEMENT PLAYERS ARE USED IN 2011?
NO
36.9%
YES
63.1%
IF THE SEASON IS CANCELED OR DELAYED, WHAT EFFECT WOULD YOU IMAGINE THAT HAVING ON YOUR FUTURE INTEREST IN THE NFL?
I'd be more interested 10.7%
No effect 44.5%
I'd be less interested 44.8%
WHAT WOULD YOU MISS THE MOST IF THE SEASON IS CANCELED?
Watching with friends and family 41.8%
Following my team 40.7%
Fantasy football 5.2%
Following headlines 3.8%
Attending games 3.1%
Wagering on games 1.3%
Tailgating at games 1.3%
Broadcasters and TV personalities 1.0%
Other 1.8%
IN THE ABSENCE OF THE NFL, WHAT SPORTS LEAGUES WOULD YOU FOLLOW MORE CLOSELY?
57.3%
45.3%
16.5%
OTHER 5.8%
18%
22.7%
25.6%
50.5%
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND IN A TYPICAL WORKWEEK MANAGING FANTASY FOOTBALL?
1:45
HR MINS
IF THE 2011 SEASON IS CANCELED, HOW MUCH OF THAT TIME WOULD YOU SPEND WORKING OR STUDYING?
1:31
HR MINS
WHICH ACTIVITIES WOULD YOU BE MORE LIKELY TO PARTICIPATE IN DURING A WORK STOPPAGE?
[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]
WATCHING OTHER TELEVISED SPORTS 61.2%
PLAYING SPORTS 25%
SURFING THE INTERNET 56.1%
SPENDING TIME WITH SIGNIFICANT OTHER* 45.1%
SPENDING TIME WITH CHILDREN* 22.6%
WATCHING NONSPORTS TELEVISION 47.5%
YARDWORK/CHORES 43.6%
READING 34%
VIDEO GAMES 33.5%
CHURCH 13%
OTHER 10.2%
*BECAUSE OF ROUNDING, SOME PERCENTAGES MAY NOT ADD UP TO 100
*ASKED OF ALL RESPONDENTS
PHOTO
BRIAN KERSEY/UPI/LANDOV (JERRY JONES)
PHOTO
MEL EVANS/AP (DESEAN JACKSON)
PHOTO
MATT A. BROWN/ICON SMI (REFEREE)
PHOTO
ANNMARIE AVILA (NFL FOOTBALL)
PHOTO
ART FOXALL/UPI/LANDOV (SAINTS FAN)
PHOTO
JUAN OCAMPO/UPI/LANDOV (STEELERS FAN)
PHOTO
PETER AIKEN/CAL SPORT MEDIA (RAIDERS FAN)
PHOTO
RALPH LAUER/EPA (PACKERS FAN)
PHOTO
GINA HOUSEMAN (PUCK)
PHOTO
ERICK W. RASCO (BASKETBALLS)
PHOTO
SEAN GLADWELL/FOTOLIA.COM (BOWLING BALL)
PHOTO
LANA LANGLOIS/FOTOLIA.COM (TENNIS BALL)
PHOTO
SAM GREENWOOD/GETTY IMAGES (UFL FOOTBALL)
PHOTO
MEL LEVINE (COMPUTER)
PHOTO
JIM R. BOUNDS/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES (LAWNMOWER)
PHOTO
EA SPORTS (VIDEO GAME)
CHART
SIX PHOTOS