Poll finds national anthem demonstrations dividing Duval County voters

Jacksonville, FL — As the Jaguars prepare for their first Jacksonville home game since the National Anthem protest in London, a new poll is tracking behaviors of local fans.

Almost 63% of registered Republicans in Duval County who watch the NFL on TV say they're less likely to watch now because some players kneel for the anthem.

The UNF Public Opinion Research Lab poll finds less than 14% of registered Duval Democrats are less likely to watch a game.  And it finds 18% say they are more likely to watch and attend games.

The same poll asked registered Duval County voters about owner Shad Khan’s approval rate.  65% strongly or somewhat approve of the way he’s handling his job as owner of the Jaguars.  Head coach Doug Marrone received 58% approval.

“Early season success and a division lead has the city behind the Jags’ owner and head coach. And if this is the year they finally turn things around, you can expect those numbers to rise,” Polling Director Michael Binder said.

The poll was conducted Monday, October 2, through Wednesday, October 4, by live callers via the telephone, and calls were made from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily.  Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish by UNF undergraduate and graduate students. Overall, there were 512 completed surveys of Duval County registered voters, 18 years of age or older. Of those, 509 answered the demographic questions needed for weighting.  The margin of sampling error for the total sample is +/- 4.3 percentage points.