Close to half of Canadians think sports came back too soon: survey

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Almost half of Canadians could do without playoff hockey until a COVID-19 vaccine is available, according to a new Leger survey.

Close to 50 per cent of those think professional sport shouldn’t have returned without a vaccine.

In Alberta, where Edmonton is one of the NHL hub cities for the play-in and playoff rounds, that rate was higher, at 64 per cent.

Just 43 per cent of British Columbians think pro sports shouldn’t have returned until there’s a vaccine– the lowest rate in Canada.

A third of those polled supported the return of pro sports without a vaccine available, with 41 per cent in Quebec — whose Montreal Canadiens currently playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the opening playing round — agreeing, the highest amount of any province.

The highest percentage of Canadians who believe sports should have waited for a vaccine the most was among those aged 35 to 54.

Of those 55 and older, 55 per cent said no to the resumption of pro sports — the highest per cent.

Higher rate in U.S.

In the U.S., 53 per cent of respondents said sports should have waited for a vaccine — higher than in Canada.

Of all those polled, 31 per cent said they were not excited about the return of sports at all, while just 12 per cent were “very excited.”

In B.C., 36 per cent were not excited at all, while 12 per cent were very excited.

"This is going to be the hardest Stanley Cup to win ever"@Sportsnet hockey analyst Kevin Bieksa joined @JamesCybulski and @psolkowski for his thoughts on last night #Canucks vs Wild game.

LISTEN: https://t.co/RsDpKOj5b5

— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) August 5, 2020

 

In Canada, 51 per cent said resuming sports without a vaccine is unsafe, with just 24 per cent saying the opposite.

The responses in the U.S. were similar.

Pro sports return

Since Major League Baseball resumed, at least two teams, the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals have experienced COVID-19 outbreaks amongst their teams. The Marlins, however, resumed play, Tuesday, after 18 players recovered from the coronavirus.

The Philadephia Phillies have also resumed games since playing the Marlins.

The Cardinals’ games against the Detroit Tigers this week have been postponed.

Meanwhile, the NHL play-ins have not had any interruptions due to COVID-19, with the Vancouver Canucks tied 1-1 with the Minnesota Wild in their best-of-five play-in series.

The NBA has also resumed play.

Experimental vaccines

On Wednesday, Canada signed deals with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and U.S.-based biotech firm Moderna to procure millions of doses of their experimental COVID-19 vaccines.