New England Sports Survey Takeaways
It’s that time of year again, when Channel Media & Market Research releases their annual New England Sports Survey. In the 9th edition of the survey, close to 16,000 respondents spoke their truth on all things sports…teams, ownership, coaching and media. Let’s take a look at what they found.
Football is forever on top:
While the New England Patriots remain the most followed team in New England, with a whopping 45%, a few things stand out, namely the region’s feelings on Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Clearly not happy with Brady walking away, Coach Belichick’s leadership rating dropped from 64% in 2019 to 17% in 2020 and 85% of respondents think the team was made worse since last season. Not to mention, that 38% believe that the worst thing to happen to New England sports in the past year is Tommy’s leaving. Let’s have some perspective people.
Covid19 has indeed effected sports viewing:
We all remember how it started. Your Boston Bruins were plugging along, set to score the Presidents’ Trophy and then…Covid19 hit, halting life as we knew it. And that appears to have had pretty big impact on viewing, with 23% of fans following the team less than they did since last season. And what did close to half of those fans give as the reason? Just too hard to follow during the Pandemic. One item we found interesting? 21% are ok with kicking Rask to the curb and 35% felt he didn’t meet their expectations.
The B’s weren’t the only team effected either. According to the survey, 38% of New England Revolution fans are paying less attention to games, despite the team making the playoffs, because the revised schedule was hard to follow. But there is a bright spot, with 66% agreeing that interest in soccer is growing within the U.S. Gooooaaaaal!
Celtics’ Management continues to move in the right direction:
It seems like no matter what Celtics’ GM, Danny Ainge, does or doesn’t do, he’s always a fan favorite and 69% of respondents have complete faith in him and what he’s doing with and for the team. But let’s give credit where credit’s due, 67% have the same opinion on team ownership. Slow clap for this season though, with the team receiving the only A grading among all five franchises.
Now, we’re not ones to toot our own horn, but let’s talk about how The Sports Hub and our talent faired:
Are you listening to our game day broadcasts? You should be, because the top five unaided write-in winners are all Sports Hub talent, with Scott Zolak, the color commentator for the Pats, taking in 29%. ‘Sup Zo. Rounding out the list, Zo’s partner Bob Socci, Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell covering the Celtics and Bob Beers with The Bruins.
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Mike Felger tops the list of favorite radio sports personality. Love him or hate him, he’s got you tuning in. After a four way tie for fifth and a two way tie for fourth, our guys took six out of nine spots…Scott Zolak coming in 2nd with 16% ( a fitting percentage), Marc Bertrand with 14%, Tony Massarotti with 8% and Jim Murray and Rich Shertenlieb both with 5%.
And finally, how did our shows compete? Not too badly, taking three of the five top spots with a total of 79% of votes. Felger & Mazz came in first with 26%, Zolak & Bertrand came in second with 20% and Toucher & Rich bring it home with 14%.
What does all of this mean to you, the listener? Well, not too much, but it’s a pretty clear snapshot of how your peers are feeling about your favorite teams. What does it mean to us? You like us, you really like us. Ok, all kidding aside, THANK YOU for listening and being the reason we do what we do. Go teams!
