Sports fandom and political attitudes

Emily A. Thorson; Michael Serazio

doi:10.1093/poq/nfy018

Sports fandom and political attitudes

Emily A. Thorson, Michael Serazio

Department of Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

32 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	391-403
Number of pages	13
Journal	Public Opinion Quarterly
Volume	82
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfy018
State	Published - Jun 26 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication
History
Sociology and Political Science
General Social Sciences
History and Philosophy of Science

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Sports fandom and political attitudes

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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