Photo: cliff1066™In an interview with ESPN that aired over the weekend, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said that if the NFL lockout results in a lost season, crime rates will increase. “Watch how much crime picks up if you take away our game,” Lewis told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio. Pressed to explain why, Lewis replied, “There’s nothing else to do Sal.”
Are Americans really so addicted to professional football that its absence will lead people to go on some kind of crime rampage? Or, as Lewis seems to be implying, is it such a potent distraction that it keeps us occupied, and our violent tendencies sated? Better to watch Troy Polamalu knock a guy unconscious than doing it yourself. By that logic, crime rates should increase once the season’s over.
The NFL lockout does seem to be leading to an increase in criminal behavior among one demographic: NFL players. According to the Grio.com’s John Mitchell, arrests among NFL players have spiked during the lockout this spring.
We’ve written about the relationship between sports and crime a number of times, including here, when Dubner took on French political scientist Sebastien Roche and his theory that sport causes crime. More recently, Freakonomics contributor Justin Wolfers reported on a study showing that crime rates spike during college football game days:
[The authors'] findings are quite striking, and they report large rises in assaults, vandalism, and disorderly conduct on game days. As might be expected, this effect is large in the city of the home team, but basically non-existent in the city of the visitors.You might be worried that this rise in arrests reflects more police on the street on game day (and hence more arrests per crime), rather than simply more crime. But the authors provide a clever response, noting that upset losses by the home team have a particularly large effect on violent assaults, while expected losses have little effect. Unless police chiefs are also successfully forecasting football outcomes, it seems that this alternative explanation doesn’t hold water.
Obviously, sport was at the heart of the recent case of Bryan Stow, the San Francisco Giants fan who was severely beaten by Dodger fans after an Opening Day game in L.A.
So, what do you think?
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I think Ray Ray’s theory is interesting: at the very minimum, a lot of American males keep occupied on Sundays by watching football. If we didn’t have football, or something to take its place, we’d have to find something else to do. I’d like to think that I will certainly not turn to crime, but I can imagine that some places could have increased rates.
But there are places that will have significantly decreased crime rates, like whatever districts the stadiums themselves are in — I’ve seen many many violent and illegal acts at tailgates, during the game, and post-game. Downtown Cleveland and Philly must be 10x worse on gamedays than every other day… so I think Ray’s underestimating the amount of violence DUE to football.
Crime rate increase during home college football game cities? Uh, yeah…you have to mention alcohol as the major contributing factor. Younger demographic, much higher attendance and more non-drivers than at NFL (or really any other sports) leads to a lot more drinking. Upset by the home team? More reason to party.
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I can see this happening in certain cities. Check out what happened in Baltimore when Comcast turned off the “free cable” and required everyone to have a digital cable box. Shootings and homicides went up pretty noticeably… which, to be honest, is a significant uptick in Baltimore, a city known for its’ violence.
I think what Ray Lewis meant was that he would commit more crimes if he doesn’t have the season to control his behavior. I don’t think it will change other criminals behaviors, other then those that play on Sundays.
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Only a criminal would think the first thing someone would d if they didn’t have a distraction is commit more crimes. Sounds like you’re threatening us Ray. Are you?
It seems likely that there is less crime associated with NFL games than NCAA football games (college games are on Saturday, there are more games, the rivalries are more impassioned); the primary causal relationship I think plausible is that, due to the loss of the NFL, fans who would otherwise have ignored the NCAA start watching college games.
Assuming that the marginal fan thus transferring attention is more prone to criminal activity than the average NFL-only fan, increased participation in the higher-crime environment of NCAA football could increase crime associated with college football games more than the decrease of crime associated with the (now-absent) NFL.
A thug is a thug is a thug. Whether they are making millions on 20 Sundays for their violence, or simply robbing the local Stop ‘n’ Shop. The brains of people of this ilk are what Conceal and Carry is all about.
And just what did Lewis mean by “our game”? I and millions of others can think it, but don’t by God say it. Oh, yeah….a punk is a punk is a punk.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Ray Lewis was kinda misquoted here. During the interview he is not just talking about fans but the people that work at the stadiums and the non-millionaires that work within the NFL. His logic is that they are being put out of work based upon the egos of people who are already well off and that the lockout is happening because the people facilitating it do not have much money to lose. There is a definite possibility that that could lead to an increase in violence! Ray Lewis is a genius!