Canada’s sport? Survey says sure, NHL outpaces all different professional leagues

Greater than three-quarters of Canadians think about themselves sports activities followers, and the NHL stays the preferred professional sports activities league.

The Strategic Counsel commissioned the survey based mostly on detailed interviews with 3,240 Canadians in all areas in each official languages.

Seventy-seven per cent of respondents stated that they’re sports activities followers, with 29 per cent describing themselves as “massive followers.” 

Forty-eight per cent are both informal followers of a number of leagues, or massive followers of only one. Twenty-three per cent have been non-fans, and they didn’t comply with any of the leagues, not even sometimes.

The NHL was the preferred league throughout Canada, with 58 per cent of respondents saying they comply with the lads’s skilled hockey league. 

The NFL got here in subsequent at 37 per cent, {followed} by MLB (34 per cent), CFL (32 per cent) and NBA (29 per cent), rounding out the highest 5 nationally. 

Formulation One auto racing was sixth general (24 per cent), {followed} by skilled tennis (20 per cent). The PGA Tour and Main League Soccer have been tied for eighth, with the Skilled Ladies’s Hockey League and Final Preventing Championship rounding out the highest 10.

Notably, if main junior hockey was thought of, it will crack the highest 10 in two areas.

The Western Hockey League would rank sixth in Western Canada, and the Ontario Hockey League would additionally rank sixth in Ontario by way of measurement of its fan base if they’re thought of within the equation, together with skilled leagues.

Half of Canadian girls surveyed comply with the NHL (50 per cent), making it the preferred league amongst girls. 

Rounding out the highest 5 for girls are the NFL (26 per cent), MLB (23 per cent), and each the CFL and NBA at 22 per cent every. One-in-six Canadian girls (15 per cent) are followers of the PWHL, rating it because the seventh most-followed league amongst girls, forward of a number of long-standing organizations like MLS or the PGA Tour, regardless of the PWHL being lower than two years outdated.

The WNBA is at present {followed} by 11 per cent of ladies, however subsequent 12 months’s launch of the Toronto Tempo may enhance that curiosity considerably, as 27 per cent of Canadian girls say they’re thinking about following the Tempo.

Equally, the Northern Tremendous League, an expert girls’s soccer league that held its first match in April, can also be displaying robust potential as 28 per cent of ladies nationally are thinking about following it.

Survey respondents stated that Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid was their favorite athlete, {followed} intently by Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, with soccer gamers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi third and fourth, respectively. Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews rounded out the highest 5.

McDavid and Crosby ranked at or close to the highest in each area, whereas native favourites additionally featured prominently. 

In Quebec, Montreal Canadiens ahead Cole Caufield led the listing, with tennis participant Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and Marie-Philip Poulin of the Montreal Victoire additionally within the prime ten. 

Crosby, the delight of Cole Harbour, N.S., was the favorite athlete within the Atlantic provinces by a big margin, whereas St. John’s roller Brad Gushue and Florida Panthers ahead Brad Marchand, of Halifax, additionally cracked the highest 10, reflecting regional delight.

The survey was carried out between March 15 and 22. On-line surveys can’t be assigned a margin of error as a result of they don’t randomly pattern the inhabitants.