Liberals like Messi but authoritarians prefer Ronaldo: how politics shapes sporting choices | Sean Ingle
Summary
The article examines research suggesting that political views may be linked to sports preferences. A survey of more than 10,000 people across 26 countries found that more liberal respondents were more likely to prefer Lionel Messi, while respondents with greater approval of authoritarian rule were more likely to prefer Cristiano Ronaldo.Key Facts
- Researchers surveyed more than 10,000 people in 26 countries about whether they preferred Messi or Ronaldo.
- Age, gender, education, social class and interest in politics did not significantly predict which player respondents preferred.
- People who were more liberal than their country’s average were more likely to prefer Messi.
- Respondents with greater approval of a strong leader who governs without parliament or elections were more likely to prefer Ronaldo.
- Indonesia, Turkey, Mexico and Egypt had the strongest support for Ronaldo in the survey; South Korea and Argentina had the strongest support for Messi.
- The survey also found that people who consumed more short-form video news were more likely to prefer Ronaldo.
- A separate U.S. study compared Google search trends for 53 sports with county-level voting results from the 2020 presidential election.
- That study found traditional sports such as American football, baseball and basketball were more popular in areas that voted more heavily for Donald Trump.
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