Recently, Florida Panther forward Matthew Tkachuk drew attention when he expressed admiration for U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, particularly while wearing the President's recognizable red tie. This public display sparked interest in the political affiliations of NHL players. A new report, leveraging publicly available voter registration data, indicates that American players in the National Hockey League (NHL) lean more towards Republican affiliation than their counterparts in other professional sports leagues.
The study revealed that Major League Baseball (MLB) leads the pack, with an impressive 53.7 percent of American players registered as Republicans. In stark contrast, only 7.8 percent identified as Democrats, while 36.4 percent aligned as Independents. Following closely, the NHL accounted for 43.9 percent Republican registrants, a mere 5.6 percent Democrats, and a dominant 48.6 percent Independents.
VoteHub, the organization responsible for this compelling report, claims to have conducted the "first systematic, league-by-league examination of political partisanship among professional athletes in the United States." The methodology employed by VoteHub involved analyzing voter file data from 23 states and the District of Columbia, thus providing a comprehensive look at the party affiliation of 1,506 athletes across the so-called "Big Four" North American professional sports leagues—including the NBA and WNBA.
The findings starkly contrast with the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), where only 2.3 percent of players are registered as Republicans. In a significant ideological divergence, a substantial 67.5 percent of WNBA players identify as Democrats, while 30.2 percent are classified as Independents.
The political leanings of other major leagues were also highlighted in the report. The National Basketball Association (NBA) showed a more left-leaning stance, with 42.9 percent of players identifying as Democrats, 10 percent as Republicans, and 45.9 percent as Independents. The National Football League (NFL) displayed a balanced political landscape with 34.3 percent Democratic, 20.2 percent Republican, and 44.3 percent Independent players.
The NHL's political landscape, however, is underscored by an important caveat. The report clarifies that the statistics pertaining to American players do not necessarily reflect the entire league's political sentiment, as American players constitute only about 30 percent of the NHL's athlete population. Therefore, the findings among American players should not be generalized to the NHL's larger international player base.
The report also suggests that the significant percentage of athletes identifying as Independents may imply a lower level of political engagement among players, or possibly indicate that athletes prefer to conceal their political affiliations due to their visibility as public figures.
For a detailed understanding of the methodology used in this research, further insights can be gleaned from VoteHub's official channels.
