We Now Know How Pro Athletes Likely Voted In The Last Election, And The Answer Might Surprise You

Ever wondered which league is the wokest of them all? Of course you have! The real answer is "all of them," by the way, but that's a conversation for another day. 

As for the first question, we might now have an actual answer. 

Are WNBA players as insufferable as they appear? Did ANYONE in the NBA vote for Trump last year? Are the "deceptively fast" special-teamers in the NFL all Republicans? Is Major League Baseball full of right-handed hitters?

Thanks to VoteHub, which compiled – and organized – public voter registration from athletes in five major sports (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, WNBA), we no longer have to wonder. 

Take a look. Take it in. The political lean of sports, all in one graphic:

MLB, NHL lean right, while NFL is all over the map

I know what you're thinking … yes, they consider the WNBA a major sport. That's funny, but I also understand because they needed the numbers to skew Democrat somewhere, and they certainly weren't gonna use the PGA. 

Relax, it's a joke! Sort of. Well, not really. But whatever. Let's dig in. 

Using voter file data from 24 states and the District of Columbia, we’re able to venture into new territory and collect the party identification on 1,506 athletes across the "Big Four" of North American professional sports leagues, plus the WNBA. 

The "Big Four" plus the WNBA. Hilarious. 

The main takeaways? Well, there are plenty. For me, it confirms what I already knew – that pro athletes, by and large, lean Republican. Or, at the very least, not Democrat. There are a ton of Independents out there, which may mean A) they're actually in the middle, or B) they don't really vote. 

Here's what else I found:

• MLB and NHL lean heavily Republican, which should surprise nobody. 53% Republican in MLB, 43% in the NHL.
• The WNBA is predictably skewed so far to the left, it's laughable. 67% Democrats to just 2.3% Republicans. Thanks for doing your part, Sophie Cunningham. Queen.
• The NBA isn't as bad, but … it's still pretty skewed. Surprisingly, there are a lot more Independents than I would've guessed, but I'm not sure that would close the gap much. Are there a lot of closet Republicans in the NBA? Do they all shoot corner-3s? (Come on! That's funny).
• The NFL is all over the map. It's the only league here without a real tilt. 34% Dem. 23% Rep. A whopping 44% in that Independent category. Maybe that means the NFL has a ton of Jill Stein voters. Who knows!

So, four of the five leagues show pretty clear leanings. The NFL is the one exception. And there are a TON of independents across the board. How about this for a Hump Day stat? 41% of all sampled athletes are registered as independents, higher than the U.S. national average of about 27%.

What does that mean? What could it mean? That's anyone's guess. I'd imagine some combination of:

- Privacy

- Being scared to admit they voted for Trump

- Lower political engagement in general (they don't care)

Something else to consider here – and it's a biggie. This is voter registration data compiled from 24 states and Washington, DC. Those states include: AK, AR, CO, CT, FL, GA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, UT, and WV. And it only accounts for about 40% of eligible players.

California not being used here sticks out. I'd imagine they chose not to include California because A) voter registration is harder to access, B) what data you DO get would be hard to interpret, and C) it would probably skew these results pretty heavily. 

California is overly-saturated with pro teams. It's insane, but it makes sense given it's a massive place. I would imagine someone pulling data would be leery of California because those results would obviously lean left, heavily, and would probably muddy what the actual national results are trying to say. 

There's also this: Athletes who work in California don't always live in California, for obvious reasons. If you play for a California team, but you're registered to vote in Florida, it's going to complicate this data. 

Anyway, there you have it. Read 'em and weep. Are pro sports slanted? We now know. 

Sort of. 

Kind of. 

Now, someone out there figure out how to include NASCAR and the PGA in the next data dump, and let's really piss off a Lib today! 

PS: Yes, we're all thinking about it. And YES, there IS a graphic breaking down voter registration by position in the NFL. 

It's a Mona Lisa: