Fewer than half of Americans 'OK' to attend live sports events owing to COVID-19: Poll

Washington: Only 42% of Americans say they are comfortable attending a live ticketed sporting event given COVID-19 risks, according to a poll by the Washington Post and University of Maryland released on Wednesday.

The online poll of 1,500 US adults taken from 12-18 March found 40% of Americans were not comfortable attending a sports event and 18% were unsure, with conditions making a major difference.

Only 22% were comfortable with attending a sports event where masks were not required compared to 64% who were comfortable with masks mandatory.

There were 66% of people who were comfortable attending an outdoor sports event such as Major League Baseball, which launches its 2021 campaign on Thursday, with only 32% comfortable attending an indoor sports event such as basketball.

The poll had a margin of error of three percentage points.

The poll found 63% of Americans said it was a large to moderate risk to attend a sporting event, 26% calling it a large risk.

There was a 69% comfort rate in attending events with a 20% capacity limit for spectators, but that fell to 50% when venue capacity for spectators was at 50%.

Regarding COVID-19 vaccinations, there was a 64% comfort rate for those who received the vaccine while that grew to 69% when all attendees had received the vaccine.

Percentages were 56% when attendees were screened for fever or had tested negative for the COVID-19 virus and 54% when regional COVID-19 cases were low.

Among US regions, the most comfortable attending a sports event were people in the Midwest at 47% with those in the South and West at 42% and those in the Northeast at 34%.

Among those in the Midwest, two of three would be comfortable attending an outdoor sports event but only one in three would be so at an indoor event.