Fans low on tolerance for steroids

[DDOGG]

The vast majority (92 percent) of self-identified sports fans say they are aware of the use of performance enhancing drugs by athletes, and most have little tolerance for the practice, a recent MSN-Zogby poll shows.

Just knowing about the possibility that an athlete could be using performance-enhancing drugs is enough to diminish the experience for many sports fans — 58 percent said they enjoy watching sports less if they know the athletes may be using. Slightly more than one in three (38 percent) said the possibility does little to change how much they enjoy watching sports.

Only five percent of sports fans say they would take performance-enhancing drugs if they were a professional athlete, but among respondents ages 25-34, 11 percent say they would do so. Overall, males are three times as likely as females to say that they would take performance-enhancing drugs if they were a professional athlete.

Eighty-five percent of sports fans believe leagues and governing bodies should do whatever is necessary to rid sports of performance-enhancing drugs, including lengthy suspensions and other forms of discipline for athletes caught using.

For most sports fans, finding out that their child's favorite professional athlete uses performance enhancing drugs makes no difference in how they feel about the use of these drugs, but eight percent would be more likely to change their mind.

Nearly all sports fans (97 percent) are opposed to allowing performance enhancing drugs at levels other than professional sports, such as college athletics and high school sports — just one percent of sports fans believe these drugs should be allowed in non-professional sports.