The New York Yankees May Be Slumping on the Field, But They Are Still America’s Favorite Baseball Team

The Atlanta Braves Return To The Number Two Spot In A New Harris Poll

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As Major League Baseball heads into the All-Star Game, the New York Yankees find themselves on top as the favorite baseball team among those who follow Major League Baseball for the fifth year in a row. The Atlanta Braves jump up one spot to No. 2 while the Boston Red Sox are in third place on the list. Rounding out the top five are the St Louis Cardinals at No. 4 and the Chicago Cubs at No. 5.

“What is your favorite Major League Baseball team?”

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive^® among a nationwide sample of 2,372 U.S. adults between June 5 and 11, 2007.

Greatest Changes

Two teams have moved up eight or more places since 2006:

• The Texas Rangers move up 11 places from a tie at No. 27 to a tie at No. 16;
• The Milwaukee Brewers move up eight places from No. 18 to No. 10.

Three teams have dropped seven or more places since last year:

• The Chicago White Sox have fallen 10 places from a tie at No. 11 to No. 21;
• The Arizona Diamondbacks have fallen eight places from a tie at No. 14 to No. 22;
• The Kansas City Royals have fallen seven places from a tie at No. 21, to No. 28.

Every Region Has Their Favorite

While the East is solidly behind the NY Yankees, the other regions of the country definitely are not. In the Midwest, the St. Louis Cardinals are the favorite team while in the South it is the Atlanta Braves. Out West, the Seattle Mariners, who come in at No. 8 overall, are that region’s favorite team.

With regard to age, there is not that much of a difference, as most say the Yankees are their favorite team. All, that is, but the youngest generation, with Echo Boomers (those aged 18-30) claiming the St. Louis Cardinals as their favorite team.

The disagreements between Republicans and Democrats also seem to extend to favorite baseball teams. Republicans say the Atlanta Braves are their favorite team while Democrats say it is the New York Yankees.

TABLE 1 FAVORITE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM: 1999 – 2007 “What is your favorite Major League Baseball team?”
Base: U.S. Adults Who Follow Major League Baseball
	Rank 1999	Rank 2003	Rank 2004	Rank 2005	Rank 2006	Rank 2007
New York Yankees	2	1	1	1	1	1
Atlanta Braves	1	2	3	2	3	2
Boston Red Sox	8	6	4	4	5	3
St. Louis Cardinals	4	14	13	6	6	4
Chicago Cubs	3	7	2	3	4	5
Detroit Tigers	10	15	5	=19	7	6
New York Mets	12	3	14	5	2	7
Seattle Mariners	6	11	=15	=13	10	8
Cincinnati Reds	13	10	=19	=8	=14	9
Milwaukee Brewers	21	23	23	24	18	10
Los Angeles Dodgers	7	8	=9	7	=14	11
Houston Astros	22	=20	=9	=17	9	12
Baltimore Orioles	9	=18	8	12	8	=13
Cleveland Indians	5	4	=9	=19	=11	=13
San Francisco Giants	26	9	7	=10	=14	=13
Pittsburgh Pirates	18	=18	=9	=8	=21	=16
Texas Rangers	15	13	=15	21	=27	=16
Philadelphia Phillies	16	12	6	=13	13	18
Oakland Athletics	19	=20	22	27	19	19
Minnesota Twins	11	5	=17	=13	=21	20
Chicago White Sox	20	27	27	=10	=11	21
Arizona Diamondbacks	NA	=16	=17	16	=14	22
Florida Marlins	25	=25	21	28	=27	=23
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim*	23	=16	=25	=17	20	=23
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	NA	28	28	=29	28	25
San Diego Padres	17	22	=25	25	=25	26
Colorado Rockies	14	24	24	26	=25	27
Kansas City Royals	24	=25	=19	=22	=21	28
Washington Nationals	NA	NA	NA	=22	24	29
Toronto Blue Jays**	28	29	29	=29	29	30
Montreal Expos	27	30	30	NA	NA	NA
*While the name may have changed, we have kept the trend 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.

TABLE 2 FAVORITE BASEBALL TEAM AMONG DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS
Base: U.S. Adults Who Follow Major League Baseball
East:	New York Yankees
Midwest:	St. Louis Cardinals
South	Atlanta Braves
West:	Seattle Mariners
Echo Boomers (those ages 18 to 29):	St. Louis Cardinals
Gen X (those ages 30 to 41):	New York Yankees
Baby Boomers (those ages 42 to 60):	New York Yankees
Matures (those ages 61 and over):	New York Yankees
Republicans	Atlanta Braves
Democrats	New York Yankees
Independents	New York Yankees

Methodology

This Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between June 5 and 11, 2007 among 2,372 adults, of whom 874 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.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.