Harris County residents really want a WNBA team but are less excited about a F1 track. Those are just two of the results of a new survey that gauged local residents’ attitudes about a range of sports-related topics.

Conducted by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston between July 9 and 18, 2,300 people who are registered voters in Harris County responded to the survey. It has an error rate of +/- 2.04 percent.

The first question related to plans to renovate NRG Stadium, which is owned by Harris County and used by both the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. A majority, 51 percent, think the county government should contribute either up to 20 percent or 40 percent towards the cost of those renovations. Only 26 percent responded that the county should not contribute any money to the project.

On a related note, 62 percent are in favor of using county money as part of a public-private partnership to renovate the Astrodome into an entertainment venue. The topic has been in the news recently courtesy of a lengthy article in the New York Times that examined the building’s status.

As for the tenants at NRG Park, an overwhelming majority hold a favorable of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (81 percent) and the Texans (73 percent). It’s easy to speculate that favorable view of the Texans would been considerable lower a couple of years ago, prior to the team’s success under the leadership of coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Houstonians continue to miss having a local theme park, with 68 percent saying they would be “enthusiastic” about “a destination theme park, water park, and resort for all ages like Disney World or Universal Studios being opened in Houston?” Not surprisingly, that number is even higher for families with children under 18, 75 percent of whom want a theme park. Similarly, 36 percent said they’d visit more than once a year and another 25 percent would visit at least once a year. Only 18 percent said they’d never visit.

Houston is home to teams from the major men’s sports leagues, the NFL, NBA, MLB, and MLS, but we’re missing teams that play in the WNBA and the NHL. Roughly the same number of Houstonians would like to see that changed, with 64 percent in favor of the WNBA’s return and 61 percent in favor of the NHL.

However, Houstonians are less interested in joining the ranks of cities like Dallas and Austin in having a motor speedway that could host a NASCAR or F1 race. Only 52 percent are in favor of such a facility being built in the Houston area.

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Houston sports fans get in the gameday spirit at The Tailgate, CultureMap's big sports bash coming to 8th Wonder on September 11.

Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

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