Politics and Sports Fans
By This chart is certainly interesting:
There are some no-brainers, including most notably the Republican preference for the PGA Tour. Nascar’s position as a heavy Republican/medium turnout sport is also pretty unsurprising. I’m somewhat troubled by the strong Democratic skew of WWE, but not even mildly surprised by the low turnout of wrestling fans. College football and basketball stay Republican by virtue of the higher incomes of college graduates.
Regarding the big sports, I’m a bit surprised by how close football and baseball are to the axis, and also fairly surprised by the NBA’s position as a strong Democratic sport. In the latter case, I’m guessing that the fan base must trend urban and African-American, which would then have to overwhelm the relatively high cost of tickets. Baseball has a much whiter fan base, but much lower ticket prices.