One in four enjoy brawls in sports

April 17, 2013, 9:42 PM GMT+0

24% of sports fans enjoy brawls between players - and many more than that among younger people and ice hockey fans

Zach Greinke, the pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers who suffered a serious injury last week during a benches-clearing brawl, may take a different view; but 24% of Americans say they actually enjoy the occasional fight between players in professional sports.

The vast majority of Americans do not appreciate brawls, with 65% saying they never enjoy fights between players and 67% saying that such fights detract from the sport.

As may be expected, views of fights also depend which sports one likes. Almost one in two fans of Ice Hockey, where fighting has a long history, enjoy a good fight between players.

Views also varied across with age, with younger sports fans more likely to like fights than their older peers.