June 14, 2026
The Free Press
No doubt, you will cite many examples of unhealthy fandom—such as the examples of destruction Saturday night after the Knicks win, when school buses were set on fire, several people were shot or stabbed, ten police officers were injured, and dozens of people were arrested.
But in my business, we would call these instances empirical irregularities. The far more regular occurrence, according to recent data from the nonprofit More in Common, is that sports fans are much better citizens. Compared to nonfans, they are on average more likely to be registered to vote (92 percent vs. 75 percent), participate in local elections (64 percent vs. 35 percent), support democratic norms (73 percent vs. 53 percent), donate blood (29 percent vs. 12 percent), and donate to a place of worship (43 percent vs. 18 percent).