Poll Watch: Rasmussen 2012 Major League Baseball Survey

Rasmussen 2012 Major League Baseball Poll

Which team is most likely to win the World Series this year?

• New York Yankees 22% [20%] (17%)
• Washington Nationals 17% [5%] 
• Texas Rangers 14% [24%] (8%)
• Cincinnati Reds 9% 
• San Francisco Giants 8% [5%] (6%)
• Detroit Tigers 8%

Note: No other contending teams (Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals) were picked by more than five percent (5%) of fans.

Regardless of who you think will win, which team do you want to win the World Series this year?

• Texas Rangers 17% [13%]
• Washington Nationals 17% [5%] 
• New York Yankees 16% [14%] (16%)
• San Francisco Giants 10% [7%] (8%)

Major League Baseball has decided to expand the playoffs this season to include an additional wild card team in each league. Do you favor or oppose expanding the playoffs to include an additional wild card team in each league? 

• Favor 57%
• Oppose 36% 
  

National survey of 445 baseball fans was conducted October 4, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 5 percentage points.  Results from the poll conducted July 5, 2012 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted March 26, 2012 are in parentheses.

Inside the numbers:

Perhaps not surprisingly given their success, Yankee fans (90%) are the most confident their team will win the World Series. Seventy-six percent (76%) of Tigers fans believe their team will emerge victorious for the first time since 1984. A majority of Giants fans (63%) think their team will win their second World Series in two years.