For Immediate Release: January 31, 2024
Aaron Chimbel: 716-375-2040,
[email protected]PDF version; crosstabs; website: American Sports Fanship Survey / sbu.edu/communication
Siena/St. Bonaventure Annual Sports Fanship Survey: Part 1 – All Things Super Bowl
3 of 4 Americans Will Watch Super Bowl LVIII
Pizza & Wings Top Gametime Treats
All-time Best Games, Plays, Commercials & Halftime Shows Revealed
NOTE: This is First of Two Releases – “All Things Super Bowl”
Release 2 – “Online Sports Betting” – Monday, 2/5
January 31, 2024 – For the second year in a row, 75% of all Americans plan to watch the Super Bowl
according to a new survey of United States residents released today by the Siena College Research Institute
(SCRI) and St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication. Fifty-three percent say the game
is an important part of their life, 36% consider the Super Bowl to be a national holiday and 50% support
offering the Monday after the Super Bowl each year as a paid day off of work.
Chicken wings edge out pizza as America’s favorite food to eat on Super Bowl Sunday, 25-23% followed by
chips/dip (12%), nachos (8%) and burgers (8%). When considering both their favorite and second favorite
game time foods, pizza (43%) beats out wings (40%), followed by chips/dip (24%), nachos (19%), burgers
(18%), sandwiches (14%) and barbecue (12%).
Favorite Super Bowl Foods
1st Favorite 1st + 2nd Favorite 1st Favorite 1st + 2nd Favorite
Chicken Wings 25% 40% Chili 2% 5%
Pizza 23% 43% Pigs in a blanket 2% 4%
Chips and Dip 12% 24% Cheese and Crackers 2% 5%
Nachos 8% 19% Cookies, brownies, 1% 6%
and other desserts
Burgers 8% 18% Garbage Bread 0% 0%
Subs/sandwiches 6% 14% Other 4% 7%
BBQ 6% 12%
American Sports Fanship Survey, January 31, 2024
“Official or not, Super Bowl Sunday is a national holiday,” said Don Levy, SCRI’s Director. “Seventy-five
percent of all Americans plan to watch the game and the much anticipated halftime show and commercials.
Seventy-two percent say they are football fans and half of Americans say football, more than any other sport,
is their favorite. Adding to the excitement of the day is the favorite food war -- now a tossup between pizza
and wings with nachos, burgers, subs, barbecue and so much more waiting for us all.”
Of those watching the Super Bowl, 52% say the game itself is most interesting while 21% tune in for the
halftime show and 19% watch for the commercials.
For the first time, the Siena-St.Bonaventure survey asked Americans to select the top game, play, commercial
and halftime show from the early years of the Super Bowl (1967-99) as well as the modern era (2000-23). (See
Appendix for full results).
Super Bowl “Greats,” Early and Modern
Early (1967-1999) Modern (2000-2023)
Greatest Game XXIII (1989) 49ers 20 – Bengals 16 LI (2017) Patriots 34 – Falcons 28
Greatest Play XVIII (1984) Marcus Allen’s 74-yard LII (2018) ‘Philly Special’ - the Eagles’ reverse
touchdown run pass trick play
Greatest “Hey Kid, Catch” with Mean Joe Greene
“Betty White for Snickers” (2010)
Commercial (1979) tied with “Budweiser Frogs” (1995)
Greatest Halftime LVI (2022) Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem,
XXVII (1993) Michael Jackson
Show Mary J. Blige & Kendrick Lamar
American Sports Fanship Survey, January 31, 2024
“Two of the most memorable Super Bowl moments come from an unlikely pair: Michael Jackson and Betty
White,” said Aaron Chimbel, dean of St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication.
“Jackson’s groundbreaking 1993 halftime show clearly dominated the musical performances with nearly half,
45% of respondents, saying it was the greatest of its era. White’s 2010 Snickers commercial, meanwhile, was
the greatest modern commercial named by more than a third, 36%, of all respondents.”
“The popularity of 2022’s hip-hop halftime show was culturally significant, cementing a shift from the rock
and pop line-ups that dominated the previous decade of performances,” Chimbel added
Seventy-one percent of Americans say they are sports fans, including 81% of men and 61% of women. Siena
and St. Bonaventure once again identified four strata of sports fanship based on respondents’ level of
participation in activities such as watching live sports, checking the scores of live sporting events, and talking
about sports with friends and family. In this year’s analysis, 19% of Americans can be considered “avid” fans
– meaning they participate in some sort of sports fanship activity daily, while 26% are “involved” fans, 27%
are “casual” fans, and 28% are “non-fans.”
By a margin of 59-16% Americans think football promotes values that make America a better rather than a
worse country. Sixty-two percent support players or teams displaying slogans including ‘End racism’ on the
back of their helmets and by 54-18% they think professional football does more to overcome rather than
perpetuate racial discrimination.
Overwhelmingly, Americans are in favor of rule changes aimed at lessening the possibility that players in the
NFL suffer from neurological injuries and by 75-18% they support requiring the NFL to have independent
doctors make the decision as to whether or not an injured player can continue to play. At this time, only 24%
of all Americans think the NFL is doing an excellent job protecting athletes while 34% think that they are
doing just enough and 30% believe the NFL is not doing enough to protect players.
While just under a quarter of Americans think the NFL is doing an excellent job penalizing players for whom
there is evidence of them committing domestic violence or for whom there is evidence of them committing
sexual assault, in both cases nearly 40% say that the NFL is not penalizing these athletes enough.
Odds and Ends Beyond NFL Football and the Super Bowl
• By 45-32% Americans think it is good for sports that the NCAA passed rule changes allowing college
athletes to sell the rights to their names, images and likenesses (NIL). Similarly, by 43-31% they say it
is good for sports that NCAA President Charlie Baker proposed a new tier of Division I sports in
which schools must pay at least half of their athletes $30k each year above and beyond scholarships.
• By 43-28% Americans think it is bad for sports to introduce the ‘automated ball-strike system’,
commonly referred to as ‘robo-umpires’. And respondents are evenly divided on whether it is bad or
good for sports that MLB star Shohei Ohtani signed a record breaking $700 million contract (37-35%).
• By 34-20% respondents say it is bad for sports that golfer Jon Rahm left the PGA Tour and signed
with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
• By 75-12% Americans say it is good for sports that the U.S. Soccer Federation agreed to equalize pay
for the national men’s and women’s teams.
###
The American Sports Fanship Survey was conducted January 2 - 7, 2024, among 3071 responses drawn from a proprietary
online panel (Lucid) of United States Residents. Data was statistically adjusted by age, region, race/ethnicity, education, and
gender to ensure representativeness. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 1.9 percentage points including the design effects
resulting from weighting. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political,
economic, social, and cultural research primarily in NYS. SCRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes
to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information or
comments, please call Dr. Don Levy at 518-783-2901. St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication offers
undergraduate and graduate degrees in sports media, journalism, communication and related fields. For more information
or comments, please contact Dean Aaron Chimbel at 716-375-2040.
Appendix
Greatest Super Bowl Games, Early and Modern
Early (1967-1999) Modern (2000-2023)
XXIII (1989) 49ers 20-16 Bengals – remembered for LI (2017) Patriots 34-28 Falcons – remembered
Joe Montana and John Taylor’s fourth-quarter 19% for the Patriots performing the largest comeback 26%
game-winning drive in Super Bowl history
XXV (1991) Giants 20-19 Bills – remembered for the XLII (2008) Giants 17-14 Patriots – remembered
Giants becoming the first team to win Super Bowl by 17% for the Giants’ underdog victory and David Tyree’s 19%
one point after Scott Norwood’s missed field goal “Helmet Catch”
XLIX (2015) Patriots 28-24 Seahawks –
X (1976) Steelers 21-17 Cowboys – remembered as 15% 13%
remembered for Malcolm Butler’s Goal Line
the first Super Bowl in the Steelers-Cowboys rivalry
interception
III (1969) Jets 16-7 Colts – remembered for the XLIII (2009) Steelers 27-23 Cardinals –
victory of the underdog AFL Jets over the favored 12% remembered for Santonio Holmes’s game-winning 11%
NFL Colts touchdown catch
XXXIV (2000) Rams 23-16 Titans – remembered
XIII (1979) Steelers 35-31 Cowboys – remembered 11% 8%
for the “Dot-com” ads and Mike Jones’s “One
as the first “rematch” in Super Bowl history
Yard Short”
Don't Know/Refused 27% Don't Know/Refused 23%
American Sports Fanship Survey, January 31, 2024
Greatest Super Bowl Plays, Early and Modern
Early (1967-1999) Modern (2000-2023)
24% LII (2018) The “Philly Special” - the Eagles’ 23%
XVIII (1984) Marcus Allen's 74-yard touchdown run
reverse pass trick play
X (1976) Lynn Swann's catch after deflection by 14% 17%
XLII (2008) David Tyree’s “Helmet Catch”
Mark Washington
XXVIII (1993) Don Beebe’s strip of Leon Lett at the 13% XLIX (2015) Malcolm Butler's Goal Line 13%
goal line in a blowout interception
12% XXXIV (2000) Mike Jones’s tackle one yard shy of 11%
XXIII (1989) John Taylor's game-winning reception
the goal line
9% XLIII (2009) Santonio Holmes's game-winning 10%
XVII (1983) John Riggins's 43-yard touchdown run
touchdown catch
Don't Know/Refused 29% Don't Know/Refused 25%
American Sports Fanship Survey, January 31, 2024
Greatest Super Bowl Commercials, Early and Modern
Early (1967-1999) Modern (2000-2023)
"Hey Kid, Catch! With Mean Joe Greene” - Coca- 23% 36%
“Betty White for Snickers” – Snickers, 2010
Cola, 1979
“Budweiser Frogs” – Budweiser, 1995 23% “Whassup?” – Budweiser, 2000 28%
“Where’s the Beef?” - Wendy’s, 1984 21% “Keep Your Hands Off” - Doritos, 2010 9%
“The Showdown” (Jordan vs Bird) - McDonald’s, 15% “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” – Old 7%
1993 Spice, 2010
“1984” – Apple, 1984 6% “Alexa Loses Her Voice” – Amazon, 2021 6%
Don't Know/Refused 12% Don't Know/Refused 13%
American Sports Fanship Survey, January 31, 2024
Greatest Super Bowl Halftime Shows, Early and Modern
Early (1967-1999) Modern (2000-2023)
45% LVI (2022) Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. 26%
XXVII (1993) Michael Jackson
Blige, and Kendrick Lamar
XXXI (1997) “Blues Brothers Bash” (Dan Aykroyd,
John Goodman, James Belushi); ZZ Top and James 14% XLVII (2013) Beyoncé 18%
Brown
XXXII (1998) Boys II Men, Smokey Robinson,
12% XLIII (2009) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street 17%
Martha Reeves, the Temptations, and Queen
Band
Latifah
XXX (1996) Diana Ross 8% Rihanna (2023) 15%
XXIX (1995) Patti Labelle, Tony Bennett, Arturo
Sandoval, Teddy Pendergrass, and Miami Sound 5% XXXVI (2002) U2 8%
Machine
Don't Know/Refused 16% Don't Know/Refused 17%
American Sports Fanship Survey, January 31, 2024
