Survey Says L.A. Wants Football, Not at Any Cost

The people of Los Angeles County, while more deeply concerned with other social issues, want an expansion NFL team to play in an existing football facility, and although they will balk at using public money, they won’t mind driving to Orange County to watch football.

In a survey to be released today of 600 Los Angeles County residents, which was conducted by the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, the return of professional football ranks 13th on a list of 13 social issues being confronted by local citizens and fourth on a list of six entertainment options.

“You have to be very proud of Angelenos; they have their heads on straight,” said Fernando Guerra, director of the Loyola Marymount center. “We know what the NFL owners, city officials, fans on the radio shows and the press are saying, but what’s the typical L.A. resident think of this issue?

“Well, sure football is glamorous stuff, but it’s not the No. 1 issue with the people. You put it into the context of reducing air pollution, improving race relations, providing job opportunities and reducing traffic congestion and it finishes dead last, and dead last by a large margin.

“Many of these social issues were deemed very important or somewhat important by 90% of the respondents. The lowest response was 74% before dropping down to 46% for the return of football to L.A.

“The survey shows there is a reservoir of good will here for football, but not at the expense of other more pressing issues or the expenditure of public funds.”

The random digit dial survey, which has a margin of error of 3-5%, produced several surprising results:

--Only 57% said they would support the effort to locate an NFL team in Los Angeles.

“I would have expected that number to be 65-70%,” Guerra said. “What would it hurt to have football here? But apparently some people are still very annoyed with professional sports and there’s some backlash to the departure of the Rams and the Raiders. In addition, there seems to be a hard-core 10% that is just anti-sports.”

--Anaheim Stadium drew the most interest as the site of choice for football fans, although this survey was conducted with only Los Angeles County residents.

“That blew me away,” Guerra said. “Apparently many people are used to going to Orange County. In the southeastern section of the county they are closer to Anaheim Stadium than to some of the other sites.”

--Anaheim Stadium, the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl all fared better than the projected sites for the construction of a new football facility.

“People have a hard time visualizing a new stadium and are fearful they might have to pay for that stadium,” Guerra said. “If Hollywood Park and Dodger Stadium were physical realities, they probably would have done better in the survey. But at this point, most Angelenos prefer the existing sites.”

--Of the Seahawks’ proposed move to Los Angeles, 49% said they would definitely or probably support the move, but 32% would oppose and another 9% said it would depend on the effort made in the move.

“The support improves when you start talking about bringing in millions of dollars and adding thousands of jobs,” Guerra said. “So if I’m Ken Behring, owner of the Seahawks, that’s where I am making my argument with the people here.”

--If the Seahawks need public funds, however, to make the trek south, 71% said they would be somewhat less likely or much less likely to support the move.

“People want football,” Guerra said. “But not enough to spend public money on it.”

--Although Baltimore and St. Louis have stressed the importance of having NFL teams to maintain or gain big-city identities, only 44% here said they would be more likely to support the Seahawks’ move for that same reason.

--Although 49% said they would show support for the Seahawks’ move, if given the choice between an existing team and expansion, 48% prefer a fresh start, and 27% want a relocated team.

“In general, they want an expansion team, but when you present a specific team and say, ‘This is it. This is the one being offered,’ they respond differently,” Guerra said. “You see the same thing in political polls. You might ask: ‘Do you support Clinton or the Republican nominee?’ and the Republican nominee might get large numbers. Then you break it down and ask about Clinton versus Buchanan and the numbers might decline.”

--The people of Los Angeles place music as their No. 1 entertainment option, radio No. 2, college sports teams No. 3 and then professional sports.

“People have entertainment options here,” Guerra said. “But when you break it down into sports and what people are watching on TV, the NFL ranks supreme. So some of this [low numbers for pro sports popularity] is the concern people are showing about the pro sports field. But when it comes time to watching it on TV, it’s not even close.”

In answer to the question, “Would you be more likely or less likely to watch a specific sporting event?” 71% said they would view the NFL. Professional basketball was next at 65%, followed by figure skating, 58%; college football, 56%; major league baseball, 53%; boxing, 51%, and college basketball, 50%. Last on the list of 12 sports identified were golf, 25%, and horse racing, 24%.

The survey asked for the feelings people had toward Los Angeles area sports teams, including the departed Rams and Raiders. The Lakers led the pack with a favorable rating, but Guerra said that might be in part due to the timing of the survey, which was conducted a week after Magic Johnson’s return.

The Lakers received a 77% favorable impression among sports fans, followed by the Dodgers, 71%; Angels, 67%; Kings, 65%; Mighty Ducks, 57%; Clippers, 54%; Raiders, 41%, and the Rams, 30%.

“The Angels’ number was very surprising again because these are Los Angeles County people,” Guerra said. “The Mighty Ducks had the highest ‘Don’t know’ answer at 20%, which demonstrates they are still an emerging team.

“I’m sure, if you conducted the same survey during the summer, with the Dodgers in first place, they would probably be No. 1. But I think this shows that people here will support teams like the Lakers and Dodgers who are continually successful.”

When asked if they had watched on TV a Raider, Ram, USC or UCLA football game at any time in the last two years, 65% said they had viewed the Raiders. The Trojans and Bruins were next at 53% and the Rams at 49%.

“The Rams really took it from people in this survey,” Guerra said. “But I would have thought the Trojans would have done better--especially since I’m an SC grad.”

Based on the survey’s results, Guerra said he expects football to return successfully to Los Angeles.

“If I were Behring, I wouldn’t expect an immediate positive reaction,” Guerra said. “But if he’s looking at the long term, I would want to come to L.A.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The View From L.A.

According to a Loyola Marymount survey, Los Angeles wants a pro football team, but on its own terms.

Given the choice between existing NFL team or an expansion team?

Expansion team: 27%

Existing team: 7%

Depends on the team: 10%

Don’t support any team: 48%

Don’t know/no answer: 9%

*

Support or Oppose Bringing Seahawks to L.A.

Support: 49%

Oppose: 32%

Depends on effort: 10%

Don’t know/no answer: 9%

*

If it took public funds to convince the Seahawks to move here would you be more or less likely to support them?

More likely: 19%

Less likely: 71%

No effect: 5%

Don’t know/no answer: 4%