Watching for the Spots or for the Game?

February 5, 2010


By Mark Dolliver, Adweek


Like any great national event, the Super Bowl is the subject of opinion polling in the days leading up to it. Here's a sampling of data from a flurry of pre-bowl polls:

Zogby International finds 59 percent of adult respondents saying they plan to watch the game. That includes 90 percent of self-described football fans and 24 percent of those who aren't fans.

Do people watch mostly for the game or mostly for the commercials? In a Marist Poll, 14 percent of the men planning to watch said they tune in more for the commercials, vs. 86 percent watching more for the game. Among female respondents who plan to watch, 32 percent said they'll do so more for the commercials, while 68 percent will watch more for the game.

In the Zogby poll, 13 percent of those planning to watch said they enjoy the commercials more than the game, while 46 percent enjoy the game more than the commercials. Thirty-nine percent said they enjoy the two elements equally.  Among non-football fans who watch the telecast, 44 percent said they enjoy the commercials more than the game.

Against the backdrop of the Tim Tebow controversy, Marist asked respondents whether they think "it is appropriate or not appropriate for so-called advocacy ads to be allowed to air during the Super Bowl." "Not appropriate" beat "appropriate" by a field goal plus a safety (49 percent to 44 percent, with the rest unsure).

Finally, a Public Policy Polling survey found 32 percent of respondents rooting for the New Orleans Saints to win the game, vs. 22 percent preferring the Indianapolis Colts. The rest had no preference. Democrats preferred the Saints over the Colts by 36 percent to 21 percent, while Republicans were pro-Colts by a narrow margin of 26 percent to 25 percent.

In a breakdown of the Public Policy Polling findings by age group, 18-29-year-olds were the most likely to favor the Saints over the Colts (45 percent to 14 percent). The 46-65-year-olds split evenly (27 percent each) between the two teams.