| New poll shows Manning, whose ESPN+ show launches this month, is beloved by ‘avid sports fans CREDIT: Morning Consult ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” has tried more than once to secure former quarterback Peyton Manning’s services in the broadcast booth since his 2016 NFL retirement – and a new ranking of some of the most high-profile sports media personalities shows why: The two-time Super Bowl champion and future first-ballot Hall of Famer is beloved by sports fans. A new Morning Consult survey of 565 self-described “avid sports fans” found 79 percent viewed Manning favorably versus 11 percent who had an unfavorable view. The former Indianapolis Colt and Denver Bronco, who later this month debuts a 30-episode docuseries on streaming service ESPN+ spotlighting the biggest moments in NFL history, is ranked No. 1 in net favorability (the share with a favorable view of him minus the share with an unfavorable view) with a rating of 68 percentage points. The July 1-2 poll, which has a 4-point margin of error for the “avid sports fans” demographic, sought to test the popularity of some of the top figures from who are regularly seen, read or heard in the national sports media landscape. The personalities were pulled from The Big Lead’s list of the 75 most powerful people in sports media. While Manning – whose “Peyton’s Places” series launches with four episodes on July 29 and one weekly through the end of the upcoming season – narrowly led NBA Hall of Famer and current “NBA on TNT” star Charles Barkley (65 points) in net favorability, 51 percent of avid sports fans said they viewed the former signal-caller “very favorably,” compared with 41 percent who said the same of Barkley. The NFL is America’s dominant sports league, home to 40 of the top 50 live sporting events in 2018, according to Nielsen, and Manning was joined at the top of the Morning Consult ranking by a number of media personalities with an ongoing connection to the league. That includes veteran play-by-play commentators Al Michaels of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” Mike Tirico of NBC and Jim Nantz of CBS. Avid sports fans also rated Michaels’ color co-pilot Cris Collinsworth and Nantz’s broadcast partner, Tony Romo, highly. The survey also suggests that when it comes to generating ratings, popularity isn’t everything: Some of the most well-paid sports media personalities found themselves at the bottom of the net favorability rankings. Three of the lowest-rated people on the list – Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports and Stephen A. Smith of ESPN – are contrarian progenitors of the so-called “hot take,” a deliberately provocative talking point prevalent in today’s sports conversation. About Morning Consult Named one of the fastest growing technology companies in North America by Deloitte, Morning Consult is revolutionizing ways to collect, organize, and share survey research data globally to transform how leaders in business and government make decisions. Morning Consult provides brand-tracking technology, survey research, and news for hundreds of the world’s biggest companies and industry associations. Additionally, Morning Consult conducts regular surveys for major media organizations including POLITICO, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. |
