According to a recent survey, 53 percent of Americans and 56 percent of all sports enthusiasts believe God rewards athletes who have strong faith with health as well as success on the playing field. Religion News Service and Public Religion Research Institute jointly conducted the survey that set out to assess public sentiment regarding sports and religion.

Its findings show that 65 percent of Catholics and 68 percent of Protestants agree with the same notion along with 60 percent of white Evangelicals and 49 percent of white Protestants. Reportedly, four in ten respondents disagreed. At the same time, approximately one fourth of Americans and sports enthusiasts believe God plays a crucial role in determining which team wins a game.

“Minority Protestants (45 percent) are more likely than any other religious group to believe that God plays a role in determining which team wins a sporting event. More than 3-in-10 white evangelical Protestants (32 percent) and Catholics (31 percent) believe that God plays a role. Only about 1-in-5 (19 percent) white mainline Protestants and 9 percent of the religiously unaffiliated believe God has a hand in the outcome of sporting events,” the poll stated.

When respondents were asked about the proverbial day of rest, this is what they had to say, according to the survey:

“On any given Sunday, 25 percent of Americans say they are more likely to be in church than watching football, while 18 percent say the opposite - that they are more likely to watching football than to be in church. One-quarter of Americans say that on any given Sunday they are likely to be doing both, while 32 percent say are not likely to be doing either,” the poll stated.

The wide-ranging survey, constituted of 1,012 adults, which also assessed related topics like domestic violence among players and discrimination, was carried out from January 14 to 18.

Photo Credits: University of Southern California