Peyton Manning Most-Loved Sports Media Personality

ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” has tried more than once to secure former quarterback Peyton Manning’s services in the broadcast booth since his 2016 NFL retirement — and a new ranking of some of the most high-profile sports media personalities shows why: The two-time Super Bowl champion and future first-ballot Hall of Famer is beloved by sports fans.

A new Morning Consult survey of 565 self-described “avid sports fans” found 79 percent viewed Manning favorably versus 11 percent who had an unfavorable view. The former Indianapolis Colt and Denver Bronco, who later this month debuts a 30-episode docuseries on streaming service ESPN+ spotlighting the biggest moments in NFL history, is ranked No. 1 in net favorability (the share with a favorable view of him minus the share with an unfavorable view) with a rating of 68 percentage points.

Peyton Manning - 2015

The July 1-2 poll, which has a 4-point margin of error for the “avid sports fans” demographic, sought to test the popularity of some of the top figures from who are regularly seen, read or heard in the national sports media landscape. The personalities were pulled from The Big Lead’s list of the 75 most powerful people in sports media.

While Manning — whose “Peyton’s Places” series launches with four episodes on July 29 and one weekly through the end of the upcoming season — narrowly led NBA Hall of Famer and current “NBA on TNT” star Charles Barkley (65 points) in net favorability, 51 percent of avid sports fans said they viewed the former signal-caller “very favorably,” compared with 41 percent who said the same of Barkley.

Manning’s appeal has not gone unnoticed among corporate executives, as marketers have integrated him into hit commercial ads, including his well-known jingle for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., a still-active partnership. During his final NFL season, when he won Super Bowl 50, Forbes ranked him as the 27th highest-paid athlete with $34.2 million between salary and endorsements, listing off-the-field partnerships that included Gatorade, Buick and Papa John’s International Inc.

Jimmy Sanderson, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management at Texas Tech University, said Manning’s image as a “good country boy, old-fashioned guy” who steers clear of controversy helps make him a relatable figure.

“He doesn’t talk about politics,” he said. “He doesn’t really do anything that would make him divisive.”