Watching the World Cup with others may be good for you, and for society

This article was originally written for and published on the Harvard Kennedy School’s website. Read the full story here. 

Photo above courtesy of  SounderBruce via Wikimedia Commons, used under CC BY-SA 4.0

At the end of June, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) reported that 4.6 million people had  showed up in stadiums across North America to watch the 2026 Men’s World Cup so far. Five and a half million fans turned out to public festivals across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. And the United States’ match against Paraguay was among the most-watched soccer games in U.S. broadcast history, with twenty-five million television viewers across platforms and channels. This month, millions more will come together in city centers, small town bars, and living rooms to watch worldwide. In our politically divided world, partisan rivals are cheering for the same thing at the same time.

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Todd Rogers studies this phenomenon. After reading the book Fans Have More Friends, he launched the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative. He and his team study why fandom is good for us personally, societally, and politically. Roughly three in four Americans say they’re a fan of a team in one of three major sports, with 63% saying that fandom is part of their identity.

Rogers, the Weatherhead Professor of Public Policy, reports that research shows correlations between fandom and well-being—fans are more likely to say they have friends, to volunteer, to be happy, and engage in their communities. Now, he and his team are looking for the causal evidence—does being a fan promote these qualities? Or are happier people, for instance, just more likely to be fans?

Across the field and the aisle