NFL upsets linked to domestic violence, study finds

By Staff Writer

A new report reveals that some football fans turn to domestic violence when their favorite team loses.

The study, which appears in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, is based on police call records within the final hour of National Football League (NFL) games as well as two hours after the final whistle. They found that men's assaults on their wives or intimate partners rose 10 percent in areas where the local NFL team lost a game that it was favored to win.

Researchers compared the pre-game betting odds to the game results of 900 regular season games for six teams - the Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans. They matched this data with reports from 763 police jurisdictions in the relevant states.

The study's authors said that these findings confirm that some men are unable to manage their emotions when they are faced with unpleasant surprises. This could also apply to events that are unrelated to sports, such as receiving a speeding ticket.

Problem teens who struggle to control their emotions can benefit from tough love. Parents may consider prohibiting their adolescents from watching programming that brings out their anger.