Is the sport of football dying? Survey Results

Submitted by JeepinBen on

OK, so I'm too busy to really parse the data, but here's a link to view the spreadsheet.

 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lb2M8HRbVZs5ZK7MXp-roImhPTbcmvXzr9SzR6lUOu4/edit?usp=sharing

Basic Results:

350 responses

Of those with kids: 69 people's kids play football, 57 dont.

Future parents: 150 would allow their kids to play, 76 would not. I think this is more "won't allow" than expected.

Now, a few issues with the data. First, I thought that I asked the wrong question. People were asked IF their kids played football, but not if they were allowed to and chose not to play. Blame the survey setter-upper. Second, this is also very much a non-random sample. Many more future parents responded compared to actual parents.

Things that could be interesting: Age range - are there splits of opinion between 30+ and <30 year olds? What about the age of kids? There's more data to analyze, someone who makes fancy charts go ahead and do that.

Thanks to all who responded

Powderd Toast

July 30th, 2015 at 9:51 AM ^

Great data. One issue i had that you didn tseem to mention is age of kids and their eligibility to even play. I have a 5 and a 3 year old and there are no leagues around here at that age.

Huma

July 30th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^

Data is also skewed by this audience. This is essentially a football blog so I would expect the broader population would be less favorable overall to allowing their kids to play.

LSAClassOf2000

July 30th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^

I thought it was a pretty neat little survey, but I thought about this vry thing last night. It would be fun - if there was a way to feasibly do this - to get the same survey on the fan blogs of, say, 25-30 different Division I schools scattered across conferences and the country and compare it. I would think there could be some fascinating differences. 

sammylittle

July 30th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^

My oldest son is 16. He is 6'1" and 190#. I would have allowed him to play football, but he lives with my ex-wife who feels differently. There is probably no neat way to address such situations in the survey. Human data is messy.

ijohnb

July 30th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^

that it will simply thin out the pool of people that play the game for very long.  For the most in youth football all the way through high school, there are the people that do it because they are really good at it and it is a big part of their life, and other people who do it just so that they can have a girl wear their jersey at school on Friday.  I think that many kids who do not have a future in the game will simply pull the plug on it or be swayed to do by their parents.  If you think about it from a parent's perspective, it is a relatively scary sport.

Armbuster

July 30th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^

I think that you are right, the most surprising thing by far in the data is how many people say they would not allow future kids to play. In your earlier post I guessed at least 2/3 would be okay with it, and you ended up just below that.



Hopefully, the fearmongering of the media will get tempered by reason, science, and better protection, and football can continue to thrive.

UofM626

July 30th, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^

Football. I played all 3 major sports in high school and played D1 Baseball in college and played some semi pro ball. With all the crap that goes on during football here in Southern Cali there is zero chance my kid plays. These coaches and parents are crazier every year. Just so some don't think I don't know what I'm saying etc: I do coach travel baseball at the highest level in Cali and travel all over the U.S. And play w my son. It's just not worth it anymore for kids to play and bust there ass like that for 5 plays a game. My kid would play no problem but the risk is far greater then the reward with all these rogue coaches and there philosophies. That's why youth football is losing kids at a alarming rate and that's why youth football organizations are trying harder and harder to get these coaches up to speed with proper technique etc: just my opinion but I love watching football more then any sport but my son won't be playing.

Number 7

July 30th, 2015 at 11:47 AM ^

A dad with two kids here. The boy is a giant (for his age). Who loves watching football more than anything. We've steered towards playing basketball (which he loves) and soccer (which he enjoys) in the hope that he'll be disinclined to go out for football in seventh grade. (This to the chagrin of a friend who coaches the local team for kids his age, who'd love to get him in pads). My daughter (13) wants to be the first female NFL player., but just to break down barriers and not for the love of the game.




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