Results
Title

Racial Politics and the Presidency: Analyzing White House Visits by Professional Sports Teams.

Authors

Bailey, Kendall L.; Trantham, Austin

Abstract

Objectives: This article investigates the impact of racial politics on White House visits by professional sports teams. Given increasing political polarization and varying racial compositions of major sports leagues, we hypothesize increased visits and objections over time while the prevalence of nonwhite players in a league detrimentally affects visits with Republican presidents and objections to visiting with them. Methods: Utilizing an original data set, we employ binary logistic regression to examine White House visits and objections by champions of six major professional sports leagues between 1993 and 2019. Results: We find (1) increased visits and objections over time; (2) a negative relationship between a league's nonwhite composition and the likelihood of a White House visit; and (3) a positive relationship between a league's nonwhite composition and objections to visits with Republican presidents. Conclusions: This research provides a more nuanced understanding of how racial politics influences the relationship between the American presidency, society, and culture.

Subjects

PROFESSIONAL sports; SPORTS teams; TEAM sports; DEMOGRAPHIC characteristics; ATHLETIC leagues; SPORTS participation

Publication

Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 2021, Vol 102, Issue 2, p897

ISSN

0038-4941

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1111/ssqu.12944