A new survey has revealed the political affiliations of top sports league athletes, giving more insight into a data-scarce topic.
While some sports fans may want to leave political and social issues behind when enjoying a basketball or baseball game, others might be curious about which political party their favorite players align with.
Most athletes don’t divulge their political affiliations, but VoteHub, a site that covers politics and polling, has shared an analysis of publicly available voter registration data among athletes across five major leagues. While the data doesn’t reveal information about individual players, it gives a broad view of how leagues lean politically.
Out of the five leagues analyzed, the Women’s National Basketball Association, colloquially known as the WNBA, was the most Democratic. A total of 67.5 percent of players identified as Democrats, while 30.2 percent said they were independent and just 2.3 percent identified as Republicans.
Most of the NBA players were either Democrats, 42.9 percent, or independents, 45.9 percent. Additionally, 10 percent were Republican and 1.2 percent were affiliated with another political party.
In Major League Baseball, most players identified as Republican, 53.7 percent. A good chunk of MLB athletes said they were independents, 36.4 percent, and only 7.8 percent identified as Democratic. Another 2.1 percent were affiliated with another political party.
Most National Hockey League players were either Republican, 43.9 percent, or identified as independent, 48.6 percent. Just 5.6 percent of NHL athletes said they were Democrats and 1.9 percent were affiliated with another political party.
The National Football League was a toss-up in terms of political affiliation. A total of 44.3 percent were independents, 34.3 percent were Democrats, 20.2 percent were Republicans and 1.2 percent were affiliated with another political party.
VoteHub wrote in a conclusion about the results, “Mirroring broader patterns of political sorting in the United States, athletes in four of the five professional leagues appear to be embedded in environments dominated by similar political perspectives.”
The site also pointed out that athletes who identified as independents could have done so to hide their true affiliations on public records, given their fame.
VoteHub analyzed 1,506 athletes active in 2024 in Washington, D.C., and the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and West Virginia.
