Sideline spectators
Use the map below to discover the amount of sports watched to sports played across America during the pandemic.
New York
New Yorkers watched 2.5x more sports than they played.
Americans missed watching live sports more than music, movies, during 2020 pandemic, finds new FanDuel Sportsbook study
Watching live sports ranked second in a list of things Americans missed the most during the 2020 pandemic, with 29% of Americans polled in a recent FanDuel study claiming they missed live sports the most during 2020.
According to a March 2021 poll of 5,880 American sports fans conducted by FanDuel Sportsbook, sports was one of the most-missed pastimes disrupted by the 2020 pandemic, with only “Dinner parties and social events”, at 32% percent, beating out “Watching sports with friends” as the aspect of normal life Americans missed the most.
Things Americans have missed most since the start of the pandemic
32%
Dinner parties and social
29%
Watching sports with friends and going to the gym
21%
Live music
18%
Going to the movies
Watching sports socially beat out other popular pastimes like Live Music - which 21% of participants claimed as their most wished-for live event, while 18% couldn’t wait to get back into a movie theater.
38%of respondents would choose to watch sports rather than play sports if given a binary choice.
19%During the pandemic, sports lovers would have paid a 19% premium on usual ticket prices to be able to go to a stadium and watch their team play.
59%admit that the pandemic has put them off watching live sports in a stadium for a while.
How much were live sports really missed?
With live sports on hold for the majority of 2020, American sports fans chose to get in the game themselves, with 62% of respondents saying they would choose to play sports rather than watch if they could only do one or the other.
Women
more sports watched than played
Men
more sports watched than played
And while both men and women responded that they watched more sports than they played during 2020, women watched 2.5 times more sports than they played, while men watched 3.2 more sports than they played.
The study found that sports fans who were the most likely to watch sports rather than play were located in the Midwest and South, with these states leading the way in fans more likely to watch sports than play:
- 7.4x
South Carolina
Sports fans watched 7.4 times more sports than they played - 5.7x
Kansas
Sports fans watched 5.7 times more sports than they played - 5.5x
Louisiana
Sports fans watched 5.5 times more sports than they played
Considering that college football is the most popular in many of those same Southern states, its safe to say that college football drove a large amount of sports viewing during the 2020 pandemic.
Nevada
1.1x
more sports watched than played
California
2x
more sports watched than played
Oregon
2.1x
more sports watched than played
With live sports, concert events and movie theaters all starting to open up in the Spring and Summer of 2021, sports fans may not have to choose between seeing their favorite sports team play live in the stadium and watching from home.
Whether you choose to watch live or from home, FanDuel Sportsbook features bets on all major U.S. sports, including professional football, soccer, basketball, baseball, golf, boxing, motorsports racing, and more.
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