The Personal and Social Significance of Sports in Two Countries
Reginald W. Bibby
THE SURVEY
The 2015 CanAm Sports Survey was conducted in February of 2015, and involved representative national samples of more than 4,000 Canadians and 4,000 Americans. Participants were asked how closely they follow 20 different sports leagues and activities, with response options of “very closely,” “fairly closely,” “not very closely,” and “not closely at all.” The questionnaire was designed by Dr. Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge and the data collected through on-line surveys carried out by Vision Critical.
PURPOSE
From the beginnings of Canada and the United States, people have reflected on the extent to which the two societies and their cultures resemble and differ from each other. One of the age-old concerns of Canadian nationalists has been the difficulty of creating and sustaining a culture than is not a mirror image of the U.S.
At this point in history, one area of life where Canadians and Americans exhibit both convergence and divergence is in their interest in professional and amateur sports. For reasons that are not particularly clear, Americans seem to have an insatiable appetite for sports, led by professional football (NFL), baseball (MLB), and basketball (NBA) and – to a lesser extent hockey (NHL). They also exhibit considerable interest in college sports, notably NCAA football and basketball. Support of sports at the high school level also readily outdistances that found in Canada.
SIGNIFICANCE
A clear and current reading on Canadian-American interest in sports was obtained for a number of reasons.
First, the differences seem to be persisting.
Second, the differences are persisting at a time when Canada’s two primary media conglomerates, Rogers Communications and Bell Media, are leading the way in giving Canadians unprecedented exposure to American professional and collegiate sports. Their assumption seems to be that Canada represents a largely untapped market for U.S. sports of all kinds.
Third, it can be argued that Toronto’s market size and immersion in U.S, leagues results in the rest of Canada being inordinately exposed to American sports, with important implications for the ongoing viability of Canadians sports and Canadian culture.
Release No. 3 - Baseball Interest in Third Place in Canada, Second in the U.S.
Release No. 2 - CFL Interest Remains Second Only to the NHL in Canada
Release No. 1 - Some Data and Reflections on the Relative Popularity of the CFL and MLS in Toronto and Elsewhere
In collaboration with the Angus Reid Institute...
A MAJOR NEW 2015
NATIONAL RELIGION SURVEY
updating the state of religion in Canada
On April 12 of 1993, the cover story of Maclean’s magazine declared, “GOD IS ALIVE: Canada is a nation of believers.” The report was based on 4,510 telephone interviews conducted by Angus Reid, in a study carried out with distinguished Queen’s historian George Rawlyk. “Despite common assumptions about the decline of religion,” said Maclean’s, “most Canadians are committed Christians.” Angus Reid commented, “This is a society we’ve been told is an agnostic, atheistic one. But there are obviously a lot of Canadians out there who have a quiet and private faith.”
Fast forward 22 years to March of 2015….
The Angus Reid Institute has just completed a comprehensive update on religion in Canada in association with well-known University of Lethbridge social trends analyst Reginald Bibby. The March 2015 online survey of 3,041 Canadiansprovides the most detailed and current information available on religious beliefs and behaviour. It is sharing cover attention as Maclean’s features religion in its special, expanded Easter issue.
What the survey shows is that things have been shifting significantly from the mid-1990s. A solid core of Canadians continues to embrace the Christian faith, along with other religious traditions, notably Islam. However, the atheists and agnostics who Reid mentioned are now part of a second significant, growing segment of people who reject religion. A third and sizable segment of the population constitutes something of an “ambivalent middle.” saying that they are neither embracing nor rejecting religion.
Some of these inclinations have been identified by Bibby and other observers in recent years. But the survey goes beyond speculation to conversation, giving Canadians the opportunity to disclose the extent to which they see themselves as having such inclinations. The survey also begins to fill out the details on these three orientations toward religion, and makes it possible for us to explore a number of personal and social implications – the “so what?” questions.
Canadians may not be as inclined as they once were to adopt religion as a total package, complete with conventional beliefs, practices, and teachings.
However, the prominence of science and rationality in the 21st century has done little to dull the appetite for a wide range of supernatural beliefs and practices. An Angus Reid Institute survey of more than 3,000 people in mid-March of 2015 carried out in partnership with Reginald Bibby shows that Canadians are highly polarized when it comes to religion. About 30% are embracing faith and 25% rejecting it, with the remaining 45% of the population constituting an ambivalent middle between the two inclinations.
That said about religious polarization, the survey reveals that the vast majority of people across the country nonetheless continue to hold on to religious bits and pieces, picking and choosing from a wide range of items that are available in a lively spiritual and religious marketplace.
Full survey details available at the website of the