When I started graduate school in Boston almost two decades ago, I knew almost no one. I was nowhere near my family, had little community, and only a handful of acquaintances. What helped quickly change that was Boston sports; specifically, the Red Sox and Patriots. Within days of being in the region, it was clear that Boston sports were a passion that united many—even if it were in disdain for the Sox’s bullpen. Nonetheless, talking about Nomar or Big Papi opened the door for me to connect with others and create meaningful relationships that have now lasted decades.
Although there are many debates around the nation from Oakland to Tampa about public financing of sports stadiums, sports teams create real value and communal social capital in the regions in which they are embedded. My AEI colleague Arthur Brooks recently wrote about how the Chicago Cubs brought him closer to his father and local events like sports can and do foster relationships that are far deeper than purely transactional interactions; local events help foster shared experiences and generate a sense of real communal identity.
The power of local sports to help foster connections has been understood for centuries but bears repeating. The great Palio of Siena in Italy, for instance, is a horse race held twice each year that has been occurring since 1633. Ten horses and riders, dressed in colors representing 10 of the 17 contrade, or city wards, race in the magnificent Piazza del Campo. The race is far more than a sporting event; it is a chance to build strong bonds within the contrade much like Major League Baseball does in the US.
Over the years, research has found that sports team loyalty is positively associated with a sense of belonging and a sense of meaning. New data from the Survey Center on American Life’s American National Family Life Survey of over 5,000 Americans reveals that those who regularly attend local events, including local sports, tend to be happier with their local neighborhoods and are appreciably more connected to others than those who do not.
The impact of attending a local event is immediately apparent: Over half (54 percent) of those who say they have attended a local event in their community, such as a high school sporting event, play, or local festival, report that they are either completely or very satisfied with the quality of life in their local community. Among those who have not attended an event in the past year or never have, the figure drops to just 40 percent. And of those who recently attended a local community event, 52 percent state that they were completely or very satisfied with their social lives, whereas just over a third (37 percent) of those who never participated or haven’t participated in the past year report feeling the same way.
Beyond a sense of satisfaction, attending local events may also impact one’s involvement in a community group or a neighborhood association. Those who attend local events are nearly three times more likely to be more engaged in community groups. A third (33 percent) of those who regularly partake in these events state that they are members of local groups and associations, while just 12 percent of non-regular attendees do the same.
Volunteer rates and other social activities climb with community event attendance too. For instance, 54 percent of those who regularly attend local events report volunteering for a school activity, local charity, or religious group in the past six months, compared to just 13 percent of those who did not attend such events. And whereas one in three (29 percent) regular communal attendees report that they have helped organize a communal activity in the past six months, just 6 percent of those who have not participated in a sporting event report doing the same.
Finally, friendship networks are also impacted by community events attendance. Almost 10 percent of Americans who never attend local events say they have no close friends. The number drops to 4 percent among those who attend local events regularly. Concurrently, 20 percent of regular attendees maintain that they have ten or more close friends, while only 11 percent of those who do not attend such events report the same.
The data of the American National Family Life Survey illustrate that there is a very strong relationship between engaging in local culture and the fostering of meaningful, home-grown sociability. Local events, and sports more specifically, can make connecting with others easier. They can help Americans to feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves, and they help establish a sense of place. As loneliness rises, social capital declines, and neighbors talk less, baseball and local sports can be a force that helps bring Americans together in an era of fracture, isolation, and dislocation.
Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
This piece was originally published by the American Enterprise Institute. It is republished with AEI’s kind permission.
