Paul writes immediately below about the limitless racial politicization of professional sports going on at the moment, and it turns out the Gallup Poll people have just issued some bracing news for professional sports in their latest survey of public attitudes toward various industries.
Here are the key findings regarding sports:
The biggest slide, however, has been for the sports industry, with its positive score falling 15 points — from 45% to 30%.
The sports industry now has a negative image, on balance, among Americans as a whole, with 30% viewing it positively and 40% negatively, for a -10 net-positive score. This contrasts with the +20 net positive image it enjoyed in 2019, when 45% viewed it positively and 25% negatively. . .
The sports industry’s image has also deteriorated more among women than men, and among older adults than those younger than 35. . . the greater social and political activism of players and, in some cases now, coaching staffs and entire leagues appears to have turned off Americans who disagree with their messages or the way they express them. The net effect at this point has been negative for the industry’s image.
As the saying goes, get woke, go broke.
Meanwhile, one interesting finding of this survey is the increased public regard for the health care sector:
With a 13-point increase to 51%, the healthcare industry has advanced from the third-lowest-ranked industry to near the middle of the pack. This is the first time in the 20 years of Gallup measurement that a majority of Americans have rated healthcare positively.
My guess is that the public perceives that COVID vaccines and treatments will come from the pharmaceutical companies that liberals and the media otherwise demonize 24/7.
Here’s the table of the big movers from last year to this year:
