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Scott Boehm / Getty Images file
Chicago bears fans tailgate prior to the game between the New England Patriots against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Dec. 12 in Chicago, Illinois.
We hear there are a couple of very important football games coming up this weekend.
But here's a counterintuitive finding: When fans leave those games, whether they're stumbling out of Chicago's Soldier Field or Pittsburgh's Heinz Field -- most of them will be surprisingly sober, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of Minnesota gave breath tests to sports fans as they left professional football and baseball games, and found that nearly 8 percent were legally drunk, meaning their blood alcohol content, or BAC, was at 0.08 or higher. Overall, about 40 percent had a positive BAC (that's including those who were legally drunk) and nearly 60 percent were not even a little drunk, with zero BAC.
As the study's lead author has heard from quite a few people -- that actually doesn't sound all that bad, right? "I guess my reaction to that is ... that’s a lot of intoxicated individuals, especially when you think of the vast numbers of people who attend these events, says Darin Erickson, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota. "Some of these modern arenas easily hold 50,000-plus, and you spin it out across an entire season, an entire sport -- it sounds like a small number, but I don't think that means this isn't an important public health issue."
It's the first study to attempt to measure BAC levels after professional sports games in the U.S.; a similar 1992 Canadian study showed similar results. The survey included 362 people ages 21 to 64, who took breath tests after three football games and 13 baseball games. (It's a small sample size because it was tough to stop people outside stadiums who were on their way home, Erickson says.) About half of those surveyed said they drank at the game.
The study also found that younger sports fans are the drunkest -- those 21 to 35 were more than nine times more likely to have BAC levels above 0.08.
Erickson was tight-lipped on which football and baseball stadiums his research surveyed, only saying that it was one NFL stadium and one MLB stadium. (Although we can probably rule out Qwest Field, as Seahawks fans who order a "large" beer are actually getting one that's the same size as a "small," despite paying $1.25 more for the bigger size, a popular YouTube video suggests.)
"I think the implication, then, is that this many people are getting this intoxicated at these events -- what is this leading to?" Erickson says of the report, which was published online today in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. "We’re all aware of drinking and driving, but that’s only one of the outcomes," adding that alcohol often plays a factor in accidental injuries or violent assaults.
Erickson may focus future research on tailgaters, who were fourteen times more likely to be legally drunk after exiting the game, compared to those that hadn't tailgated, the study shows. One in four tailgaters had five or more drinks at their pre-game parties.
What do you think about the report? How does it compare to the last professional sports game you attended? And is it really possible to enjoy a baseball game without a beer or two?
You can find The Body Odd on Twitter and Facebook, and follow Melissa Dahl @melissadahl.
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With the new security rules -You can't bring booze with you... and with the beer costing $8, I'm not too surprised at this...
Uhhhh...is it me, or is the title of this article the complete opposite of what the researcher is suggesting?
The results of this do not really surprise me all that much. Many stadiums have resorted to stopping alcohol sales towards the end of games in order to reduce the number of people leaving the venue intoxicated. Since you can not bring in your own alcohol at the stadiums, this results in a forced sobering up period before you leave. The typical scenario seems to be no sales after the 7th inning at baseball games, none during the fourth quarter at football games and basketball games, and none in the third period at hockey games. In addition, many venues only allow an individual to buy one beer at a time, so people can not stock up before the cut-off.
I think that these initiatives to reduce the number of drunks leaving games is a very good thing. There have been far too many people killed or seriously injured by some drunk driving home from a sporting event. For some reason the author of this article focuses on the number of people who are still over the legal limit when leaving games instead of talking about the vast improvements that have been made in recent years in this area.
Yeah. 4000 - 5000 people who are too drunk to drive doesn't sound like a small number to me. Plus it sounds like a particular demographic is significantly dominant in that category. I want to know what percentage of 21-35 year olds were legally drunk. That is a stat that would mean something.
This study was not done at FedEx field.
$10 beers + DWI Arrests= Sober Fans
And with NFL games lasting 4 hours or more thanks to all the commercials televised, they've got plenty of time to work the alcohol out of the system.
$8!?!?!?!?... that's last years price! It's $10 everywhere I've been... ;P
all i can tell you is the fans at the Buffalo bills games were puking on the way into the game.
Who can blame them? I'd puke too if I were a Bills fan.
So now we need a guy with a PhD to tell us that people get drunk during sporting events? Next we'll need someone smart to tell us that water is wet.
It doesn't necessarily mean that those who were drunk drove home.
Yeah, totally true -- but the researcher does make the point that alcohol can cause more problems than drinking and driving (not that drinking/driving isn't a huge enough problem in itself).
Who can afford those $10 beers? Last football game i attended (on free tickets BTW) I had to pay $20 to park in a field! I waiting for ther NFL / MLB / NBA / NHL etc etc to institute pay toilets!
Preach!
Who can afford a beer anymore at games. You can drink so much before a game in the parking lot but after game 3.5 hours later your sober.
108% of the people were included in the study.
Thanks for pointing that out -- I worded that part poorly. It's fixed now.
This is news? Ms. Dahl, I'm betting you're too young to clearly remember half the people around you smoking cigarettes with their beer. These are pastimes, this is a nation that drinks. Some too heavily, and we make more effort than ever to curb extreme alcohol misbehavior. But what are you advocating - an alcohol ban at sporting events? Sure sounds like it.
I think you give way too little credit to the average adult who drinks, and the sins of a few shouldn't penalize a good time for the whole. And to take a very non-scientific study and use it to project your own moral values in a pretty unsubstantiated article, well, again - this is news?
Terrible comment. She is simply compiling statistics. How is measuring B.A.C. non-scientific?? The machine is reading blood alcohol content, not collecting anecdotes. Also this study was substantiated by a Canadian study. Did you not read that? Finally, where does she advocate banning alcohol??? Oh wait, she doesn't, anywhere.
Um, anyone else notice that the numbers add up to 108% of people surveyed?
Were the people randomly sampled, and if so, did they choose to participate in the study? Maybe most of the drunks refused to participate.
60% had 0.0 BAC? I think the meter was broken. That's shocking stuff there.
I've suspected that the beer at the stadiums I have gone to is on the "light" side. I wonder if the big brewers prepare in lot and send beer with less alcohol to the stadiums, either to sell more to those looking for the elusive buzz, or prearranged with the NFL to try and curb the Puking Set from getting out of hand.
My preferred method is to hit a couple of my own 8.1 % beers before the game and nurse the slight buzz with a few of the (what I suspect) are 2.3 % or less beers inside.
Everyone pointing out the supposed 108% - please note that it says 40% had a positive BAC. It did NOT say that 40% had a positive BAC but were still under the legal limit. One would assume, then, that the 8% is part of, not separate from, the 40%.
It's the guys with the negative BAC that absorb all the alcohol from the positives.
Sorta like universe / anti-universe. Cancel each other out and all that.
I was going to say people probably pace themselves. But someone pointed out the price of beer at a game and at 8 bucks a beer, that probably explains it.
Driving under the influence kills, maims, causes accidents, or costs plenty $$ in DUI fines, fees, classes, and increased insurance rates.
Police should announce that there will be a mandatory checkpoint at the exit using breathalyzers. Not only will they prevent those who are under the influence from driving home, but they can check for valid licenses, registration tags, and whether that driver has a warrant.
...and immigration status too?
You really want to see some empty stadiums, don't you?
That is still a whole lot of people drinking more than is healthy.
After several hours of drinking, partying, and rooting for their team, 8% of people were over the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle (0.08 BAC)?
I have to disagree. Sounds like a pretty responsible group of folks attending a sporting event to me - unless one is of the "any amount of alcohol isn't healthy" ilk.
It would be interesting to compare the BAC of the fans of the winning team with that of the fans of the losing team.
Darthdon
That would be an interesting comparison. Although with me personally, I could toast a victory or mourn a loss with equal vigor.
you gotta love the affair with alcohol and hatred of less harmful substances in this country. The title of this article downplays drunkeness so much. I bet if it was the same percentage of people leaving a rock concert stoned, instead of "surprisingly sober" it'd say something like "lots of concert-goers head home too stoned to walk" even though pot doesn't affect your balance and alcohol destroys it. Why is it someone can get beligerantly drunk in these venues and I can't even eat a ganja cookie(instead of smoking to avoid upsetting those sensitive to smoke) in my own house and watch comedy central without breaking a law.
how many of them were fat? probably well over 40%, and much more detrimental to their health than having a few too many pops.
True, but one too many hot dogs wont cause you to lose control of a vehicle and kill others.
I used to go to the football games with my buddies and get skunk drunk. Now I take one of two or both kids instead and I actually get to see the game. I have a few tailgating and thats it. I look at the peole who have had too many and I think, HOLY CRAP! Was that me? Whoah!
Just for the record, I would have refused the study if asked to participate.
Simple. Stadiums gouge you to refrain from excessive drinking. End of the third quarter and no alcohol, this applies to S.F. Don't know if it is universal in the league when beer sales terminate. The seasoned fan and or season ticket holder gets primed BEFORE the game and may have one inside "TO COAST". Running the gauntlet of CHP and several municipalities to get home....just aint worth it.
I live less than a mile from Lambeau, off a road where people love to drink after the game and stumble off the curbs and get hit by cars (and die). Drinking and driving (or walking!) before and after the game is a real problem. I will not drive hours before or after the game because of all the drunks stumbling around.
GO PACK!
I live in New Franken (actually, Town of Scott)
I have quit drinking, so now I drive all my friends to and from the football games. If everybody looked hard enough and you planned ahead, you could also find a designated driver to get you to your sporting events. It might only cost you the price of a ticket. hmmmmmmm