Many Americans participate in sports in one way or another, whether they play, cheer on their favorite teams, or bet on the results.
Ahead of March Madness — the annual men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments — here are five facts about Americans’ experiences and interest in sports, gleaned from Pew Research Center surveys.
Ahead of this year’s NCAA Division I basketball tournaments, the Pew Research Center explored Americans’ experiences and interest in sports.
This analysis is based on recent Center surveys. Links to these surveys, including information on field dates, sample sizes, and other methodological details, are available in the text.
About half of Americans (48%) report participating in organized, competitive sports in high school or college. according to a Center survey from February 2022. This includes 39% who attended high school, 2% who attended college, and 7% who attended both levels.
Men are more likely than women to report playing sports in high school or college (56% vs. 41%).
There are also notable age differences among women: Adults under 50 are more likely than their older counterparts to have played sports in high school or college (48% vs. 33%). These age differences in women may be partly due to Title IXwhich became law in 1972. The law prohibits schools that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex – including in the athletic opportunities they offer.
Most Americans who played sports in high school or college say their sports experiences improved their physical health and self-confidence. according to the same survey. Some 82% of adults who have played sport believe that it has had a very or somewhat positive impact on their physical health, including 46% who say it has had a very or somewhat positive impact on their physical health. very positive impact. And 79% say playing sport has had a positive impact on their confidence or self-esteem, with 38% saying it has had a positive impact on their self-confidence or self-esteem. very positive impact.
A smaller share of these Americans say playing a sport has had a positive impact on their job or career opportunities. However, the percentage of those who say this far exceeds those who say it has had a negative impact (44% versus 3%).
Across all three areas – physical health, self-confidence and job opportunities – former college athletes are more likely than former high school athletes to say that playing sports has a positive impact on playing sports. very positive impact.
Nearly four in ten Americans (38%) follow professional or college sports at least closely. according to a survey from the Center 2023. This includes 16% who follow sports extremely or very closely. And 7% of American adults are what we might call “superfans”: they follow sports very closely or very closely. And talk about sports with other people at least daily.
About seven in ten Americans who follow sports at least somewhat closely say one of the main reasons they do so is to cheer for a specific team or teams (71%) or for entertainment (69%). Much smaller percentages indicate that one of the main reasons is to support a particular player or players (32%), because a member of their family follows a sport (23%), or for one of the others reasons included in the investigation.
However, a majority of Americans (62%) say they don’t follow sports very closely or not at all. Among this group, 69% say that one of the main reasons they don’t follow sports is simply that they are not interested.
When asked to choose a sport as an “American sport,” more than half of American adults (53%) choose football, according to the same investigation. Another 27% say it’s baseball, while 8% choose basketball, 3% choose football, 3% choose auto racing and 1% choose hockey.
Football is the most common choice across all major demographic groups, but there are some differences based on race and ethnicity. For example, white Americans are more likely than those from other racial and ethnic groups to say that baseball is America’s sport. Hispanic Americans are more likely than others to choose football, and Black and Asian Americans are more likely to choose basketball.
In a Center survey from July 202219% of Americans reported betting money on sports in the past year. This includes betting with friends and family, in person at a casino or other gambling venue, or online with a betting app. Men, adults under 50, and black and Hispanic adults were especially likely to say they would have bet on sports in the past year.
The investigation was conducted more than four years after the Supreme Court effectively commercial sports betting legalized in the United States. Most adults (57%) said the legalization of sports betting in much of the country was neither a good nor a bad thing for society, while 34% said it was a bad thing. Only 8% said it was a good thing.
Despite the wide availability of commercial sports gambling today, betting rarely motivates people to follow sportsaccording to our 2023 survey. Among those who follow sport fairly closely, 83% say that betting is not a reason to do it. 12% say betting is a minor reason they follow sports, and only 4% say it’s a major reason.
