SALT LAKE CITY — So, who's the most popular sports team in the Beehive State?

If you said University of Utah football, or the Utah Jazz, give yourself a gold star.

The Utes and Jazz topped a poll, conducted by Dan Jones and Associates from Jan. 8-13, among 402 Utah residents who were asked a variety of questions, including "If you had to choose just one team, who is your favorite sports team in Utah?"

Special Collector's Issue: "1984: The Year BYU was Second to None"
Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football's 1984 National Championship season.

U. football and the Jazz each received 24 percent of the vote, with BYU football coming in third with 20 percent. Real Salt Lake was fourth with 10 percent, followed by U. of U. basketball (4 percent), BYU basketball and Utah State football (tied at 3 percent), Utah State basketball (2 percent) and Utah Grizzlies hockey (1 percent).

Speaking of U. of U. and BYU football, 55 percent of the poll's respondents said the two longtime arch-rivals should "definitely" play each other every year, while another 32 percent answered "probably." Six percent said "probably not" and another 6 percent said "definitely not."

Other poll questions and results revealed that the Jazz, to the surprise of no one, are the state's favorite professional basketball team (76 percent), while the Chicago Bulls — the franchise that twice denied the Jazz an NBA title back in the late 1990s — are the second-most popular team with 3 percent.

And the Denver Broncos are the most popular pro football team with 21 percent of the vote, followed in order by the San Francisco 49ers (12 percent), Green Bay Packers (10 percent), Seattle Seahawks (6 percent), Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots (each with 5 percent), and the Kansas City Chiefs (4 percent).

View Comments

Professional basketball was the most important professional sport for 86 percent of those surveyed, followed by pro football (62 percent), pro soccer (59 percent), pro baseball (39 percent) and pro hockey (24 percent).

And pro basketball was considered "very important" by 60 percent of those surveyed, while pro football was rated "very important" by 35 percent and pro soccer by 25 percent of those surveyed.

The survey has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5 percent.

EMAIL: rhollis@desnews.com

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.