When you think of LIV Golf, you might think of Donald Trump, who has praised the Saudi-backed golf league that plays some tournaments on his courses.
Would you believe that most LIV Golf fans identify as liberals?
That’s what the results of a new survey by The Harris Poll and Sportico say.
The survey, which was conducted in early December, found that the Saudi-backed golf league joined the ATP and WTA (pro tennis) in being professional sports leagues which a majority of its fans identify as being liberal.
The poll, which was conducted by The Harris Poll, surveyed 4,116 U.S. adults aged 18 and over. The aforementioned three leagues were the only ones to score higher than 50% in the poll in terms of liberal leanings, with the WNBA coming in at 50% on both sides.
The most conservative fanbase, per the poll’s results, are college football fans, who skewed 58% conservative.
The results do seem a bit confusing and it’s probably worth wondering how they got here. While LIV may attract a younger audience, the idea that a league aligned with Donald Trump garners a more liberal fanbase than the WNBA seems…dubious.
Conservatives have spent a lot of time complaining about leagues like the NFL and NBA for being too “woke” or involved in “social justice,” threatening boycotts and cancellation. However, ratings for those and other leagues are through the roof and continue to climb.
The point is that the poll results don’t seem to match what we generally understand regarding the fanbases of just about every major league and sport. We’re not saying the poll results are iffy, but we’re gonna need to see a little more data. We’d be curious to know more about how Harris arrived at its conclusions and what kind of questions they asked to arrive there.
[Sportico]
