We asked for your opinions and once again you delivered, weighing in on the people, stories and issues that define the sports industry. Among the highlights of the 12th annual SBJ/SBD Reader Survey:
Protests and policies: Social issues were front and center. Players’ use of the national anthem to bring attention to social issues was identified as the second-biggest story of the year. While LeBron James was identified as the most intriguing athlete, Colin Kaepernick came in second in voting. And three-fourths of readers were onboard with the NBA’s decision to pull next year’s All-Star Game from Charlotte over North Carolina’s LGBT policy.
Silver shines: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was singled out as the most effective commissioner and the most intriguing sports executive.
Mixed signals? Readers identified the NFL as one of the three hottest sports properties, but also identified the league as one of three sports properties headed in the wrong direction.
Not cutting the cord: Ninety percent of readers said their household has a traditional pay-TV subscription, virtually unchanged from last year’s survey. Nearly an identical amount said they have a nontraditional TV subscription as well, such as Netflix and Hulu.
A little bird told me: Readers chose Twitter as the most effective social media platform for engaging sports fans.
The beautiful game: Soccer is the sport most often played by readers’ children. And, staying on topic, readers said one-sport specialization is the biggest threat to youth sports.
Betting on L.A.: Readers were bullish on Los Angeles, with nearly two-thirds predicting that the city will win the right to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The survey was conducted online from Oct. 17 to Nov. 4. As with our previous surveys, Turnkey Sports & Entertainment handled the technical aspects and tabulated the votes.
The highlights shown through the links below are only the top vote-getters, and results have been rounded. It’s noted when readers had the option to make multiple choices on select questions.
