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This is now’s survey, that was then’s in 1997

Over the last 4 days, the Daily News has given you a snapshot of the Philadelphia sports landscape through the eyes of the fans in spring 2010.

Over the last 4 days, the Daily News has given you a snapshot of the Philadelphia sports landscape through the eyes of the fans in spring 2010.

Thirteen years ago, the Daily News partnered with Fox Philadelphia for the Keystone Sports Poll, a look at the landscape in October 1997.

While the methodology of the two polls is different, here is some of what that poll showed:

Then, the favorite sports team in town was the Eagles with 39 percent of the vote, followed by the Flyers (34 percent), Phillies (14 percent), Sixers (5 percent) and none (7 percent).

The Eagles at the time were in the early stages of what would become a 6-9-1 season that included a 1-3 start.

The Flyers were coming off an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals, after being swept by Detroit, and seemed poised for another run behind Eric Lindros.

The Phillies were finishing a 68-94 season under first-year manager Terry Francona. It was their third consecutive full season of fewer than 70 wins following the surprising trip to the 1993 World Series.

The Sixers were coming off a 22-60 season that led to the arrival of coach Larry Brown.

Respondents were further asked whether they consider themselves a "big fan," "not a big fan" or not a fan at all.

Across the teams, the breakdown was:

* Eagles: 55 percent big fan, 22 percent not a big fan and 19 percent not a fan.

* Phillies: 33 percent big fan, 25 percent not a big fan, 31 percent not a fan.

* Flyers: 49 percent big fan, 26 percent not a big fan, 25 percent not a fan.

* Sixers: 22 percent big fan, 29 percent not a big fan, 49 percent not a fan.

Among team executives, Phillies chairman Bill Giles fared the worst with 17 percent of those polled saying they had a "favorable" opinion of him.

Asked about attending games, 21 percent said they had been to an Eagles game within the last year, 30 percent said they had been to a Phillies game, 24 percent a Flyers game and 14 percent a Sixers game.

Forty-percent said they found attending games affordable for them personally, 50 percent said they did not and 8 percent said they were not sure.

The biggest issue at the time was for public financing of new stadiums for the Phillies and Eagles. In the poll, 64 percent said the Eagles were fine at Veterans Stadium, and 69 percent said the same about the Phillies.

For the Keystone poll, 484 respondents were chosen via random-digit dialing from Philadelphia and the six surrounding counties for a phone survey. The total included sports fans and non-fans. The sampling error was plus or minus 4.5 percent.