More women down with Colts: study
Bears not as hot with them, but fans here earn more
Is Peyton Manning cuter than Brian Urlacher? Or are women in Indianapolis just more into football X's and O's?
Whatever the case, research shows that women in the Colts' hometown are far more into football than women here are.
Nearly 60 percent of Indianapolis women consider themselves fans of the Colts, compared with the 46 percent of females here that follow the Bears, according to a sports marketing research firm, Scarborough Research.
Of course, Chicago is a bigger city than Indianapolis. But on a percentage basis, "more women are drawn to the Colts than the Bears,'' noted Howard Goldberg, a senior vice president with the firm.
The data are based on random written surveys of thousands of people, including fans who attended football games or followed the Bears or Colts on TV and radio. The surveys were done from September 2005 to August 2006 -- so they don't cover this season. But officials said they still help paint a picture of the loyalists of the teams facing off in Sunday's Super Bowl.
Betty Pawlik, 33, a lifelong Bears fan who grew up in Arlington Heights but now lives in Nashville, used to watch Bears games with a group of male and female friends, but most of her girlfriends were there to socialize, not cheer on the Bears. "They just weren't as interested,'' said Pawlik, who is going to the Super Bowl.
The research also found that 30 percent of Bears fans -- men and women -- earned more than $100,000 vs. 16 percent of Colts fans.
And the surveys found that Bears fans are a more diverse bunch: 16 percent are black, and 5 percent come from other minority groups. Just 8 percent of Colts fans are black, and the number of fans from other racial groups is too small to measure.
