A Seton Hall Sports Poll recently conducted reveals that 38 percent of those who will be watching the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament will do so either entirely or partially online.
The poll was asked of 606 adult Americans on both landlines and cellphones, with a margin of error of +/- 4.1%.
Of the men’s tournament, 38 percent of all Americans said they would be watching at least part of the coverage.
Split by gender, 49 percent of men said they would be watching the tournament, and 29 percent of women said they would be watching.
Twenty-two percent of all respondents who will be watching also said they will watch the tournament while at work; among males that number rises to 29 percent.
Women’s Tournament
As for the Women’s Tournament, 24 percent of Americans said they would watch at least part of the coverage, with 29 percent of males saying they would, and 21 percent of females saying they would.
Pay
On a question of whether the players are paid for participation (they are not), only 5% said that would make the tournament more interesting, 17 percent said it would be less interesting, and 76 percent said it would make no difference.
“Even with lawsuits emerging and the subject being more frequently addressed, there is surprisingly little difference in this result than when we asked the question four years ago,” noted Rick Gentile, director of the Seton Hall Sports Poll, which is conducted by the Sharkey Institute within the Stillman School of Business.
In 2015, 7 percent said more interested, 14 percent said less, and 79 percent said no difference.
College Grads More Interested in Tournament?
On a question of whether college graduates have more interest in the men’s tournament than those who did not graduate college, 50 percent of graduates said they would be watching the tournament, with 35 percent of those who did not graduate college saying they would be watching it.
For the women’s tournament, 27 percent of college graduates and 23 percent of non-graduates said they would be watching.
