Poll: 72% of Americans won't attend live sporting events without COVID-19 vaccine
A skeleton crew of grounds keepers cut the grass at Target Field Friday afternoon. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune)
(FOX 9) - A new poll of American sports fans shows 72 percent of them say they will not attend live games before a COVID-19 vaccine is developed.
The study from Seton Hall University polled 762 people between April 6 and 8 and nearly three-fourths of them said they weren’t interested in attending games if they were to be played before a COVID-19 vaccine is available.
12 percent of respondents said they would attend games if social distancing could be maintained and 13 percent said they would feel safe attending games.
Should the NFL start up?
The poll shows 70 percent of respondents think the NFL should not start up, with 20 percent saying the league should resume, but allow players to choose not to play. Only 6 percent said the league should start up as planned.
Games without fans
Similarly, 76 percent of fans said they would watch broadcasts of games with the same interest as before if they were played without fans in attendance. 16 percent said they would be less interested and 7 percent say they would be more interested in seeing games without fans.
League shutdowns
67 percent of sports fans thought the leagues shut down at the right time. 16 percent of respondents said leagues were too slow to shut down and 6 percent said they shut down too quickly.
Olympic shutdown
84 percent polled say they thought the IOC acted appropriately in postponing the 2020 Olympic Games to 2021. 14 percent said they acted too quickly.
Paying stadium workers
59 percent of respondents say teams should be obligated to pay daily arena and stadium workers for their time missed while 33 percent said no.