South Orange, NJ, November 1, 2018 — The just concluded World Series was the 45th since the designated hitter rule was adopted in 1973 – but the American public is still not happy with the way it is employed.

Only 11% of people surveyed in this week’s Seton Hall Sports Poll opted to keep it as it is — employed only when games are played in American League parks. 47% were divided almost equally on whether they prefer the DH in all games (25%) or in no games (22%). 41% saidthey did not know or had no opinion.

The poll was conduced October 29-31 among 839 adults across the country on landline and cellphone, with a margin of error of +/- 3.4%.

The poll also asked the 65% who said they did not watch the World Series why they did not watch, and while 46% said they had no interest in baseball, only 11% cited no interest in the Boston Red Sox or Los Angeles Dodgers in particular. (The margin of error for this group was +/- 4.3%).

“That response is a good one for MLB, noted Rick Gentile, director of the poll, which is sponsored by The Sharkey Institute. “It says that the teams involved don’t really caused diminished interest.”

During the World Series, a player on the Dodgers was accused of sign stealing by the Red Sox. Only 31% of fans said the sign stealer should be punished, while 42% called it “no big deal.”

On the other hand, when it comes to recruiting violations in collegiate sports, 76%said that the school should be punished and 15% said it was “no big deal.”

“Sign stealing on the pro level is considered business as usual,” said Gentile. “It gets a shrug. But when it regards the future of our high school athletes moving into college, cheating is a big deal. And that’s a good thing.”

ABOUT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been showing the world what great minds can do since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous academic programs, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Seton Hall embraces students of all religions and prepares them to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. In recent years, the University has achieved extraordinary success. Since 2009, it has seen record-breaking undergraduate enrollment growth and an impressive 110-point increase in the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen. In the past decade, Seton Hall students and alumni have received more than 30 Fulbright Scholarships as well as other prestigious academic honors, including Boren Awards, Pickering Fellowships, Udall Scholarships and a Rhodes Scholarship. The University is also proud to be the third most diverse national Catholic university in the nation.

During the past five years, the University has invested more than $165 million in new campus buildings and renovations. And in 2015, Seton Hall launched a School of Medicine as well as a College of Communication and the Arts. The University’s beautiful main campus in suburban South Orange, N.J. is only 14 miles from New York City — offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Hall’s nationally recognized School of Law is located prominently in downtown Newark. The University’s Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. opened in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus houses the University’s College of Nursing, School of Health and Medical Sciences and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

For more information, visit www.shu.edu.

About the poll:

This poll was conducted by telephone October 29-31 among adults in the United States. The Seton Hall Sports Poll is conducted by the Sharkey Institute. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard landline and cell phones. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. The Seton Hall Sports Poll has been conducted regularly since 2006.

Media: Media: Marty Appel, AppelPR@gmail.com; Rick Gentile (917) 881-9489

Michael Ricciardelli, Associate Director of Media Relations, Seton Hall

michael.ricciardelli@shu.edu, 908-447-3034

The results:

Did you watch this year’s World Series?

1 – Yes: 35%

2 – No: 65%

(ASK IF NO – ONLY READ FIRST 4 CHOICES BUT RECORD IF OTHER IS SELECTED)

What is the main reason you didn’t watch?

1 – Games take too long: 1%

2 – No interest in baseball: 46%

3 – No interest in the Red Sox or Dodgers: 11%

4 – Too busy: 25%

5 – Other: 12%

6 – Don’t know: 4%

Do you think the Designated Hitter rule should be in effect for all World Series games, just games in American League ballparks or not in effect for any World Series games?

1 – DH in all games: 25%

2 – DH just in AL parks: 11%

3 – No DH in any games: 22%

4 – Don’t know/No opinion: 41%

The Red Sox accused a Dodger player of cheating by stealing the catcher’s signs to the pitcher. Do you think this is a violation that should be punished or it’s no big deal because it happens all the time?

1 – Should be punished: 31%

2 – No big deal: 42%

3 – Don’t know/No opinion: 27%

Do you think violating rules in recruiting student athletes to participate in collegiate sports is punishable or no big deal?

1 – Should be punished 76%

2 – No big deal: 15%

3 – Don’t know/no opinion: 9%

How closely would you say you follow sports, very closely, closely, not closely or not at all?

1 – Very closely: 17%

2 – Closely: 29%

3 – Not closely: 37%

4 – Not at all: 15%