I’d guess the silent majority don’t mind it or even enjoy a brief moment of shared culture and unity. It’s a wierd thing to be divisive or annoyed about but everyone has that right. Sort of the point.
Any polls support either viewpoint?
I don't think anyone is running any polls on this, lol.
And I would think this would be a tough thing to poll anyway. On top of the fact that traditional phone polling methods are becoming less accurate capturing younger generations (who very much skew toward not answering the phone if it's an unknown number and they aren't expecting a call), you'd have to deal with the fact the that not everyone you call will be sports fans, so your sample size is already going to shrink just based on that.
Further, like has been pointed out in previous posts, not every team plays the national anthem at the same time. Some teams play it after the players have come out onto the field, some play it before, so it's not a uniform experience for fans.
And then you have the split of folks who don't think the national anthem should be played at all, and so they don't have an opinion on 1. Whether players should be forced to be on the field, and 2. Whether they should be forced to stand, or allowed to kneel or whatever.
And then, as well, different sports do different things. Not to mention different countries do different things, and in this day and age people living in america (citizens, immigrants, etc) may also be watching sports from other countries who also do things differently.
However, if I had to guess, this is likely a case of "Most people don't have an opinion" mixed with "I have an opinion, but don't think it's an important enough issue to make a big deal about". I think a lot of folks care more about watching the players play than they do about what happens when and how before the game.
There are just so many facets to consider on something that really, in the grand scheme of things, isn't a big deal and IMO is mostly "culture war" type stuff.
For the record (at the risk of knocking this thread off the rails, I hope things can stay civil and on topic), I chose to kneel when I can if I am present for the National Anthem. I still remove my hat if I am wearing one, and I have a lot of respect for current members of our military and veterans (Both my Grandpa's served in the Navy, my Brother in Law is currently serving the Navy, and I have a second cousin who served in the Army) even if I don't agree with how large our military is nor how much money we spend on it. If I am unable to kneel (if there's not enough room, for instance), I will stand rather than staying seated. But, I also think we could play sports without playing the national anthem before each game.
