Majority would approve if the Expos
Returned to Montreal
Toronto, June 14th,
2019 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™
among 1471 randomly selected Québec voters, 6-in-10 (59%) would approve if the
Expos returned to Montreal.
A fifth (19%) say they would disapprove if the Expos returned to
Montreal. A similar proportion (22%) say they don’t know.
Respondents most likely to approve are those aged 45-54 (66%), or 55-64
(63%), males (66%), supporting the PLQ (66%), the PQ (63%), or the CAQ (66%),
living in Montreal (60%), the Rest of Québec (61%), or North Shore (63%), and the
most wealthy (73%).
Respondents most likely to disapprove are those aged 35-44 (21%), 45-54
(18%), 55-64 (20%), or 65 and over (18%), supporting the QS (28%), living in Québec
City (23%), earning $40,000-$60,000 (21%), $60,000-$80,000 (18%),
$80,000-$100,000 (19%), $100,000-$250,000 (18%), or the most wealthy (18%).
4 in 10 say they would attend Expos games
in person, if they returned
4-in-10 (TOP2: 42%) say they are likely to attend their games if
they returned, a fifth (18%) say they are very likely.
Half (BTM2: 53%) say it is unlikely they would attend their games in
person if the Expos returned to Montreal, a third (33%) say they are not likely
to attend at all.
Respondents most likely to say they are unlikely to attend are those
aged 65 and over (62%), females (62%), supporting the QS (68%), living in Québec City (69%), the least
wealthy (64%), or earning $40,000-$60,000 (62%).
Respondents most likely to say that they are likely to attend are those
aged 45-54 (52%), males (51%), supporting the PLQ (45%), the PQ (47%), or the
CAQ (47%), living in Montreal (46%) or South Shore (43%), earning
$100,000-$250,000 (53%), or the most wealthy (51%).
Almost
half would watch Expos games on TV
About 4-in-10 (45%) say they are likely to watch their games on
television if they returned, a fifth (21%) say they are very likely.
Half (BTM2: 52%) say it is unlikely that they would watch their
games if the Expos returned to Montreal, over a third (37%) say they are not
likely at all.
Respondents most likely to say they are unlikely to watch are those
aged 34 and younger (63%), females (61%), supporting the QS (66%), living in
Montreal (57%), or Québec City (58%), earning $40,000-$60,000 (57%), $80,000-$100,000
(55%), $100,000-$250,000 (54%), or the most wealthy (56%).
Respondents most likely to say that they are likely to watch are
those aged 45-54 (55%), males (55%), supporting the PLQ (50%), the PQ (48%), or
the CAQ (51%), living in the Rest of Québec (49%), North Shore (51%), or South Shore (48%), the
least wealthy (44%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (46%), $60,000-$80,000 (47%),
$100,000-$250,000 (46%), or the most wealthy (44%).
Majority
would disapprove if the government spent public funds to bring baseball back to
Montreal
6-in-10 (59%) would disapprove if the government spent funds to
bring baseball back to Montreal.
A quarter (25%) say they would approve.
A sixth (16%) say they don’t know.
Even those that approve of the Expos returning to Montreal are
divided on spending public funds to bring baseball back.
Amongst those that approve just over 4 in 10 (44%) say they would
disapprove if the government spent public funds to bring baseball back to
Montreal. 4 in 10 (40%) say they would approve.
Respondents most likely to disapprove are those aged 34 and younger
(61%), or 35-44 (64%), supporting the QS (69%), living in Québec City (71%), the most wealthy (72%),
and those who would disapprove if the Expos returned to Montreal (93%).
Respondents most likely to approve are those aged 45-54 (29%), 55-64
(26%), or 65 and over (27%), males (29%), supporting the PLQ (30%), or the PQ
(30%), living in Montreal (30%), the least wealthy (33%), and those who would
approve if the Expos returned to Montreal (40%).
Quebecers
also likely to follow other existing sports teams and interested in NBA or
major league baseball coming to the province
7-in-10 (69%) of those asked said they would be most likely to
follow (excluding the Canadiens and hockey) the Alouettes (14%), the Impact
(22%), a future major league baseball team (21%) or a future NBA basketball
team (12%).
Most likely to want follow the Alouettes are those between the ages
of 35 to 44 (19%) and those most likely to follow a future NBA basketball team
are those under 35 years of age (21%).
“Most Québec voters would approve if the Expos
returned to Montreal.” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “And
while the majority of Quebeckers say they wouldn't watch the games in person,
or on TV, a strong proportion of the province says they would; it suggests that
there is an appetite amongst the minority for baseball...if the public doesn't have
to pay for it."
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
