Bases Loaded: Yankees, Braves and Red Sox Take Top Honors as America’s Favorite Baseball Teams for Second Year in a Row!

As Major League Baseball heads into the All-Star Game, this year’s host team, the New York Yankees, find themselves on top as the favorite baseball team among those who follow Major League Baseball for the sixth year in a row. The Atlanta Braves remain at No. 2 while the Boston Red Sox are in third place on the list. Rounding out the top five are the Chicago Cubs at No. 4 and the Los Angeles Dodgers moving up six spots to No. 5.

The new Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive^® among a nationwide sample of 2,454 U.S. adults between June 9 and 16, 2008 also found that:

• The Colorado Rockies made the largest move, up 14 places from No. 27 to a tie at No. 13;
• The Philadelphia Phillies moved up 12 places from No. 18 to No. 6;
• The Seattle Mariners (from No. 8 to No. 17), the Cincinnati Reds (from No. 9 to No. 18), and the Baltimore Orioles (from a tie at No. 13 to No. 22) all moved down nine places;
• The Minnesota Twins have gone up nine places from No. 20 to No. 11;
• The Kansas City Royals have risen eight places from No. 28 to a tie for No. 20 as have the Chicago White Sox, from No. 21 to a tie at No. 13; and,
• The Pittsburgh Pirates have moved down seven places from a tie at No. 16 to a tie at No. 23.

Demographic differences include:

• East coast baseball fans stand behind their Yankees, while those in the Midwest love the Cubs. The South backs their Braves and in the West, the Dodgers are number one;
• There are also age differences. Echo Boomers (those aged 18-31) say the Red Sox are tops, while Gen Xers (those aged 32-43) say the same about the Yankees. Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62) cite the Braves as their favorites, while for Matures (those aged 63 and older), the Cubs are their favorite team; and,
• If they can’t agree on candidates, why should they agree on a baseball team? Republicans say the Atlanta Braves are No. 1 while the top team for Democrats is the Yankees. Don’t look to Independents to break the tie – their favorite team is the Red Sox.

So who actually is a baseball fan?

• Four in ten Americans (40%) say they follow Major League Baseball and, not surprisingly, men are more likely than women to make up part of this fan base (49% vs. 31%);
• Baby Boomers are more likely to be baseball fans (44%) as are those who live in the East (46%) and Midwest (44%).
• Those with a household income of $75,000 or more are more likely to be fans (52%) as are college graduates and post graduates (48% each);
• Both African Americans (46%) and Hispanics (47%) are more likely to be fans than Whites (39%).

"What is your favorite Major League Baseball team?"

Base: U.S. Adults Who Follow Major League Baseball

*While the name may have changed, the trend remains from previous years since it is the same team.

**It should be noted that the sample was limited to the United States. It is therefore no surprise that the Canadian team placed last on this list in a survey where no Canadian residents are surveyed.

Base: U.S. Adults Who Follow Major League Baseball

"Do you follow major league baseball or not?"

Base: All adults

This Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between June 9 and 16, 2008 among 2,454 adults, of whom 918 follow baseball. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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