Would Fans Support An 18 Game Regular Season?

DALLAS (AP) - The NFL could have an 18-game regular season depending on how labor negotiations go, but people aren't very excited by the prospect.

An Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll shows only lukewarm support among Americans for an 18-game NFL season.

According to results released Thursday, 27 percent of people favor expanding the 16-game regular season. When the group is narrowed to NFL fans, the support rises to 45 percent _ but only 18 percent strongly favor the idea.

An 18-game season is one of the league's key proposals in labor negotiations with the players' union. About three-quarters of the 1,125 adults surveyed don't sympathize with either the NFL or players in the labor dispute; those choosing sides are twice as likely to back the union over the owners, however.

The poll also shows football is king: 41 percent of those surveyed called it their favorite sport to watch. Baseball was No. 2, with 13 percent.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)