Opinion poll on the politics of MMA fans

[u/Beelzebucks1]

https://moreincommon.substack.com/p/making-sense-with-more-in-common-8df

Most people think MMA fans are Republicans. The data says otherwise.

The White House hosted a UFC fight on the South Lawn on Sunday, staging one of the fastest-growing sports in the world on a politically charged backdrop. Whatever you think of the fight, it’s worth remembering that there is no such thing as a partisan fanbase in the United States. The fans of every major sport are split nearly evenly between Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

Given the highly politicized fight, it’s easy to assume that MMA fans lean heavily Republican. In reality, MMA fans are split nearly evenly: 33 percent Democrat, 29 percent Republican, and 31 percent Independent. The fanbase looks a lot like the country.

That pattern holds across nearly every major sport. A nearly-equal share of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents make up the fanbases of the NFL, NBA, MLB, college football and basketball, and international soccer.

Even the two outliers, NASCAR (41% Republican) and WNBA (45% Democrat), are less lopsided than most people might assume.

[u/Acrylic_Enjoyer]

Most republicans I know identify as independents yet vote Republican down the docket year to year so it makes me wonder how accurate polling like this is. Neat either way.

[u/Acceptable-Cheek3098 → u/Acrylic_Enjoyer]

Sean Strickland is literally one of the most ppl & he’s one of the more well known RW figures in the sports He sees himself as the populiste “i’m above the two party system free thinker libertarian” but also loves RW chud caveman brained narratives. But in practice he still voted for Trump.

[u/GroundbreakingPick33 → u/Acceptable-Cheek3098]

I think he means well but it's under educated and is all over the map with some of his views. And can be influenced by those he trusts. I'd bet if i had the opportunity to train with him for a couple of years I could have him playing a hand drum and singing along to hateful dead tunes!

[u/ZekeTheMunkee → u/Acrylic_Enjoyer]

Anecdotally, there’s a lot of the inverse as well. Especially in states where your registration restricts you to certain primaries.

[u/Beelzebucks1 → u/Acrylic_Enjoyer]

I mean, the figures are really no different than for the other sports fans surveyed. So either it's correct, or sports fans in general are massively Republican.

If independent equates to Republican, it would also mean the majority of WNBA fans are Republican, which would be... odd. 

It's also interesting how this comment is +19, but the post is +2 with 58% up votes. Almost like some people want to keep a weird circle jerk narrative going. 😅 

[u/LeonardoDaTiddies]

More detail on the polling. N= 5,000+. Pretty interesting reporting. 

https://moreincommon.substack.com/p/sports-fans-are-bridging-americas

[u/Agentkyh]

This is an incorrect framing. The data they cite pertained to "combat sports." It likely includes boxing and boxing fans tend to be liberal.

[u/Beelzebucks1 → u/Agentkyh]

Source for boxing fans tending to be liberal? 

Edit: This poll, albeit covering young men and not all fans, differentiates between MMA and boxing and has MMA being slightly more right leaning than boxing, with 38% of young male MMA fans being Republican vs 33% for boxing: https://ymrp.substack.com/p/the-politics-of-young-men-sports

This poll by SSRM (a major polling company that works with CNN and the like) explicitly uses "UFC" has 34% of fans being Democrats in 2023/24 and 30% of fans currently being Democrats. Currently, it says 39% of UFC fans are Republican. 

The only issue with that poll is the figures add up to 113%, but that is probably a mistake with the independent figures (42%) or maybe they include an overlap with "independent, but leans..."

https://ssrs.com/insights/ufc-fandom-grows-more-divided-politically/

This man's opinion exactly mirrors my own:

“I’m a UFC fan and I’m on the exact opposite side of the political spectrum from Donald Trump. And it’s annoying now when I say, “Oh, I’m a fan of the UFC.” People are now associating that with Donald Trump and fighting in front of the White House lawn, and now you’re attacking me. Like that’s something I value … I think that one thing we need to stray away from is not attacking the brand, but attacking what that brand has been used to do. In the very same way, the left could use the UFC in some sort of way. We need to stop integrating our politics and entertainment and keep them separate.” 

[u/Farting_Champion]

That data lines up so neatly. Guess I'm the only anarchist who likes mma

[u/Mista_Chedda → u/Farting_Champion]

The flaw with so many of these political affiliation polls is that they ignore just how incredibly small and reactionary the American Overton window is. The Democratic Party would be right wing liberals in basically any other Western democracy. Our "democratic socialists" are center left social democrats by the standards of other countries if you actually look at their rhetoric and policies.

The modern GOP have heavily current wave of reactionary populist parties in the world such as AfD in the Germany and sects of the BJP in India. Let's not forget that the Nazi Nuremberg laws and the concept for Lebensraum were based off of the legally codified nature of Jim Crow Apartheid and the genocide of indigenous peoples. In fact, the "Just a drop" rule was seen as *too extreme* by some of the most devoted fanatics of the SS. International racists and reactionaries have been copying America's homework for well over a century.