Nearly half of Americans say hosting a UFC fight at the White House tarnishes the image of the people’s house, according to a poll released Tuesday.
The poll, conducted by The Sharkey Institute and Stillman School of Business’ Center for Sport Management at Seton Hall University, comes just days before President Trump hosts a UFC fight on the White House’s South Lawn on Flag Day — June 14, which coincides with Mr. Trump’s 80th birthday.
The poll found that 46% of Americans say the UFC event negatively affects the White House’s public image, while 22% say it positively affects it.
That represents a slight change from a poll taken when the fight was announced in October, when 50% said the event negatively affects the White House’s image and 19% said it positively affects the image.
Among self-described UFC fans, 29% say the event negatively affects the White House’s image, compared to 40% who say it positively affects the image. In October, 43% of fans said it positively affects the White House’s image and 29% said it had a negative impact.
Support for the event fell predictably along party lines.
Among respondents who identified themselves as liberal, 66% said it had a negative impact and 14% who said it had a positive impact. The poll found that 68% of liberals had a negative view of the event, while 16% viewed it positively.
The poll found that 36% of conservatives said the event had a positive impact compared to 22% who said it had a negative impact. In October, 31% of conservatives said the event had a positive impact and 30% said it had a negative effect. In addition, 41% of conservatives felt positively about the event while 18% did not.
Half of moderates (50%) said the event has a negative impact on the White House’s image said 22% said it was positive. In October, 52% of moderates said it had a negative impact and 18% said it had a positive effect.
Nearly half of moderates (47%) have a negative view of the event, compared to 23% with a positive view.
“This is a high risk and high reward event for UFC and the current administration,” said Charles Grantham, Director of the Center for Sport Management and the Seton Hall Sports Poll at the Seton Hall Stillman School of Business. “While it shows the ascendancy of a sport once maligned by a United States Senator and Presidential candidate as ’human cockfighting,’ it also raises divisions among followers of mixed martial arts and other sports that could also warrant an appearance at the nation’s most well-known home.”
These results are derived from a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted April 2nd through 9th among 1,601 adults.
The poll features a national representative sample from YouGov Plc., weighted on U.S. Census Bureau figures for age, gender, ethnicity, education, income and geography, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
