Sports Fandom and Political Attitudes

2018/01/01 by Emily A Thorson, Emily Thorson, Michael Serazio · 59 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Advertising #Business #Fandom #Law #Media studies #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Psychosocial Factors Impacting Youth #Sociology #Sport and Mega-Event Impacts #Sports, Gender, and Society

paper · doi:10.1093/poq/nfy018

published in Public Opinion Quarterly 82(2), 391-403 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2018/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

A majority of Americans identify as sports fans, and sports broadcasts attract substantially larger audiences than news on both broadcast and cable television. But despite the outsize role of sports in American life, we know little about how—or whether—sports fandom is related to political attitudes. This paper draws on a representative survey to examine (1) the association between sports fandom and political opinions; and (2) opposition to the “politicization” of sports. Republicans and Democrats are equally likely to follow sports closely. However, sports fandom is positively associated with individualistic attributions for economic success and support for the US military. In addition, conservatives are more likely to resist the intrusion of partisan politics into sports.

Cited by

• The public legitimacy of elite athletes’ political activism: German survey evidence
• Disrupting Fandom, Collective Action, and Social Justice: Organizing Identity and Boycotting Hogwarts Legacy
• Common Identities and Political Talk: Evaluating Cross-Cutting Political Discussions in Sports Communities on Reddit
• It Just Means More: College Football as a Case Study for Public Affairs Courses
• Patriotism, competition, nationalism, and respect for the military in US sports: Public recognition of American institutionalized sports nationalism
• Entertaining Beliefs in Economic Mobility
• The Performance and Reception of Race-Based Athletic Activism: Toward a Critical, Dramaturgical Theory of Sport. [europepmc]
• Pride or backlash? Public attitudes towards the Spanish women's national football team. [europepmc]

Related

• Do Sports and Politics Mix? Cross-Analysis of Fan Bases of Major League Sports and Presidential Candidates
• Sports Fan Moral Reasoning Strategies in Response to an Athlete’s Controversial Political Associations
• Patriotism, competition, nationalism, and respect for the military in US sports: Public recognition of American institutionalized sports nationalism
• The Political Economy of U.S. Sports Media
• Politics for Losers: The Rhetoric of Sports Tanking as a Practice of Liberal Citizenship