Report · Sports

54% of Americans oppose any foreign ownership of major sports teams

Reading

Just over half of Americans (54%) say foreign sovereign wealth funds should not be allowed to buy any ownership stake in major league sports teams like NFL, NBA, or MLB franchises, according to an April 2024 Verasight survey.

Another 29% would allow such funds a minority stake short of the largest share, 12% would permit outright 100% ownership, and 6% would allow the largest share short of full ownership.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

54% of Americans oppose any foreign ownership of major sports teams.

Should foreign sovereign wealth funds (e.g. Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, Qatar Investment Authority) be allowed to purchase ownership of major league sports teams like those in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, or Major League Baseball?

  • They should not be allowed to purchase any percentage of ownership in a team. 53.8%
  • They should be allowed to purchase a percentage of ownership in a team, so long as they do not own the largest percentage of the team. 28.7%
  • They should be allowed to purchase 100% ownership of a team. 11.8%
  • They should be allowed to purchase the largest percentage of ownership in a team, so long as they do not own 100% of the team. 5.6%

2024 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.5%

Verasight MPSA Omnibus Survey #2024-037

View source

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2024-04-10 → 2024-04-15
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.5%
Module
2

Source

Citation

Verasight MPSA Omnibus Survey #2024-037, fielded April 10-15, 2024, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.5%.

https://verasight-mpsa-2024.tiiny.co#allowance-of-foreign-sovereign-wealth-funds-in-sports-ownership

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.