Author(s)

Paul M. Sommers

Department of Economics, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, USA.

The author examines six age-group specific suicide rates in 2016 between states (in the continental United States) with and without professional sports teams in baseball [MLB], football [NFL], hockey [NHL], and basketball [NBA]. States with at least one team in baseball or football have significantly lower suicide rates among adults in all six age groups (over 20 years of age). States with at least one hockey team have significantly lower suicide rates for all adults over the age of 20, except the oldest age group (adults 65 years of age or over). The results are weakest for states with at least one basketball team. Adults only between 25 and 44 years of age and 65 years of age or over have significantly lower suicide rates with at least one NBA team.

Professional Team Sports, Suicide Rates, U.S. States, 2-Sample t-Tests, Chi-Squared Test

Sommers, P. (2018) Do States with Professional Sports Teams Have Lower Suicide Rates?. Open Journal of Statistics, 8, 760-769. doi: 10.4236/ojs.2018.85050.