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The college sports landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Just this month, Michigan became the first college basketball team to win a national championship with a starting lineup of all transfers, and nearly half of all men’s basketball players entered the transfer portal. The best players now have multi-million-dollar NIL deals. Realignment is eliminating traditional rivalries, but the biggest schools are also doing better: Power 4 conferences received 74 bids to the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments this year.
In October, Sports Poll began asking college sports fans how recent changes (paying athletes, conference realignment, and the transfer portal) have impacted their interest. Overall, most college fans say these changes have had no impact on their interest.
For fans who have shifted, the impact is more likely to be negative than positive, but there are big differences by age.
- Among fans under 25, recent changes are more likely to be viewed as a net positive.
- It’s the complete opposite for fans 55 and older.
- Fans between 25-54 are more neutral.
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For more on how this is impacting engagement in college sports and the major conferences, reach out to us. Sports Poll by SSRS is conducted continuously throughout the year and includes a nationally representative sample of more than 24,000 Americans each year.
