Gallup Poll: football is still the favorite sport to watch

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A recent Gallup Poll asked a little over 1,000 Americans to name their favorite sport to watch.

The runaway favorite? Football, with an overwhelming 41%. Baseball came in second with 10% and basketball third with 9%. Ice hockey came in fourth with 4%. But golf, tennis, auto racing, boxing and volleyball fared even worse.

Football also attracts both men and women, as well as all age groups, from 18 to 65 and older.

The poll was conducted Dec. 4-7 so there is no telling how high the numbers would be if the poll had been taken last week as the NFL playoff picture tightened.

In a Gallup fever chart, the popularity of baseball equaled the popularity of football in 1968 -- but with baseball then continuing a downward trend and football heading up. So not even the Miracle Mets of 1969 were able to alter that trend, while the merging of the AFL and the NFL in 1970 may have clinched it.

-- Debbie Goffa