Poll: Solid majority of voters oppose ending national anthem during sporting events

A solid majority of U.S. voters oppose any effort to stop the playing of the national anthem before the start of U.S. sporting events, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.

Sixty-percent of respondents opposed such an idea, with 47% of those respondents "strongly" opposing it. Just 30% of voters favor ending the practice.  The remaining 10% was unsure. 

Calls to end the playing of the anthem have persisted for several years, in an effort to call attention to such social ills as racism and police brutality. Some National Football League players have chosen to kneel – or even stay in their locker room – during the anthem. 

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Just the News Daily Poll

(Just the News)

Rasmussen pointed out that the poll's cross-demographic tabulations show that "among the biggest sports fans – those who watch most days – 49% favor ending the tradition. And just 46% are opposed."

"One reason for this is that Democrats are both more likely to favor ending the tradition and more likely to watch sports," he said. "Overall, 33% of Democrats watch sports most days. Just 22% of Republicans and 14% of Independents do the same."

The survey of 1,200 registered voters was conducted from Feb. 11-13 by Rasmussen using a mixed-mode approach. The full sample has a sampling-error margin of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

Click here to see the poll's cross-demographic tabulations.

Click here to see the poll's methodology and sample demographics.