Fans, Politics, and the Power of Sports

Sports fandom is a powerful source of meaning and identity for millions of Americans. Fans are more trusting and more confident in America’s core institutions than non-fans. Fandom benefits the individual fan as well: fans are less lonely, more active, and more connected to their families than non-fans.

More in Common conducted a study to better understand how these benefits may extend into the democratic sphere. Being embedded in one’s community is foundational to civic participation, social trust, and, ultimately, democratic health. This kind of connection is especially critical today, as political polarization continues to fracture society, loneliness remains on the rise, and emerging technologies like AI threaten to further isolate us. Stated more simply: in a country as big and diverse as ours, doing stuff together is really important, and it’s more difficult than ever to do.

But entry points to civic participation matter. Through its research over the last seven years, More in Common has consistently found that Americans’ whose most important identity is a political one, and who are in turn most politically active, tend to feel the most hostility towards their opposing political party members.

Sports fandom may offer a uniquely durable and scalable entry point to civic participation. Like many important parts of our community life, fandom is often passed down by families through generations; and, perhaps unlike other avenues to connection, rooting for a team is easy and fun. Sports is a space where people from all walks of life can and do participate, transcending backgrounds and identity.

By studying sports fandom, our aim was to shed light on a promising but underexplored source of social cohesion in American life.​

This study relies on a framework for classifying fandom developed by Ben Valenta and David Sijorak in their 2022 book Fans Have More Friends, which distinguishes respondents as Non Fans (those who don’t follow sports at all), Low Value, Mid Value or High Value Fans (those who follow sports most closely and most passionately).

Key Takeaways

1. Sports fandom takes the edge off of political engagement.

• Generally, studies show that more politically engaged Americans are also more likely to misunderstand and distrust people who don’t share their politics. Sports fans seem to be an exception. They are both more politically engaged and more open to cross-partisan connection. 
• The most passionate (High Value) sports fans are more likely to be registered to vote (92% vs. 75% of non-fans), follow politics closely (53% vs. 29%), and participate in local elections (64% vs. 35%). They also show greater interest in cross-partisan conversation (68% vs. 46% express interest) and working toward mutual goals with those holding different political views (82% vs. 65% express interest). Such fans are even more likely to have donated blood (29% vs 12%) and donated to their place of worship (43% vs 18%) in the past year.  
• Importantly, the benefits of sports fandom for democratic engagement appear across political parties, with both High Value Republican and Democratic fans showing higher levels of civic participation and openness to collaboration than their non-fan counterparts. 

2. Sports fandom is a low-stakes entry point for men to express themselves and connect.

• Many fans see sports as a gendered space—and as one where men, in particular, are free to express themselves. That makes it an important setting for men to connect and have important conversations about masculinity today.
• Nearly 8 in 10 of High Value sports fans say sports provide a healthy way for men to express themselves, compared to just 48% of non-fans. 

3. Sports fans are more likely to support democratic norms and values.​

• 73% of High Value sports fans say democracy is “definitely” the best form of government, and 87% want both parties to work together. High Value fans are also slightly more likely to agree that “the president should always act within the rules of the Constitution” and that “Americans have more in common than what divides us,” compared to non-fans.