The Depolarizing Promise of Shared Sports Fandom

Abstract

Seventy-six percent of Americans identify as sports fans, and sixty-three percent consider themselves passionate fans. We find that this shared identity powerfully reduces partisan animosity. Using a nationally representative survey and nine pre-registered experiments, we show that shared sports fandom is at least as effective at reducing partisan animosity as shared race, religion, socio-economic status, or region where they are from. This depolarizing effect tempers hostile partisan behavior and is moderated by the centrality of sports fandom to one's identity. Sports fandom is a vital and scalable tool for strengthening democratic society.