Should athletes talk about religion and politics? What Americans said in new poll
Athletes have historically displayed their faith in different ways during competitions, and a majority of Americans who watch sports are supportive of it, a new poll found.
Fifty-six percent of sports fans in the U.S. said they are very or somewhat supportive of athletes speaking about religious faith or other spiritual issues, according to a Feb. 5 poll by Sports Spectrum and Pinkston.
But when it comes to talking about political issues, less than half of sports fans in the U.S. (43%) are supportive of athletes using their platforms to do so, the poll found.
Thirty-three percent of respondents said they were neutral when it comes to both religion and politics, the poll found.
The Sports Spectrum poll was conducted Jan. 24-30 and surveyed 1,540 Americans who watch sports at least a few times a month or more. It has a margin of error of 2.3%.
The status quo among sports fans in the U.S. seemed to be athletes talking about nonprofit causes, according to the poll. Seventy-four percent of sports fans said they support athletes using their platforms to talk about nonprofits.
The survey also asked respondents who are Catholic, Christian, Jewish or Muslim if they think God has a preference or influence over who wins or loses sports competitions. Over three quarters (78%) of sports fans said they did not think so.
