A new Washington Post - University of Maryland poll is bringing new insight to how Americans feel about the connection between sports and politics. The poll, sponsored by the Washington Post and the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) with the Philip Merrill College of Journalism's Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, measured views on athletes using their platforms to engage in politics or promote voting rights. It also measured views on U.S. political leaders criticizing athletes. 

Among its findings, the poll shows: 

• 51% of Americans approve of professional athletes using their platform to express such social and political views. That is down from 62% who said the same in a 2020 poll.
  • 77% of Democrats and 25% of Republicans said athletes should express their views on social and political issues.
  • 82% of Black respondents said athletes should use their platform to express social and political views, followed by 67% of Hispanic respondents, and 58% of Asian respondents, but just 40% of white respondents.
• Nearly 7 in 10 respondents said they strongly or somewhat supported athletes’ use of their platform to promote voting rights.
  • 86% of Black respondents, 76% of Hispanic respondents, 77% of Asian respondents, and 63% of white respondents were strongly or somewhat supportive.
• When asked whether political leaders should criticize athletes representing the U.S. in international competitions, near-even shares of white (69%), Black (67%), Hispanic (64%) and Asian (61%) respondents said they should never or rarely do so. Overall, 67% of Americans said it was rarely or never appropriate.

Read more about the poll and its findings here. The poll and its results are available for viewing at the Washington Post, here. It was conducted online from August 17th through the 23rd (2023) with a random sample of adults.