One of the perpetual ways to make fun of religion, at least in America, is to note that many of our countrymen believe that God takes an interest in sports, and can affect the outcome of games. He not only sees every sparrow fall, but can make a football fall into the hands of either a Seahawk or Broncos receiver in the Superbowl. Athletes like Tim Tebow give thanks to God for their achievements and their teams’ victories, and Americans regularly pray for the success of their teams. (I doubt that this happens much in Europe, but I’m sure it’s common in South America!).

Well, now there are data confirming the ubiquitous belief that God (or demons) somehow affect the outcome of sporting competitions. The confirmation comes from a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, and summarized in their report, “Half of American fans see supernatural forces at play in sports.”

This graph summarizes the data, with “average Americans” in tan, football fans in maroon, and other fans in olive. Now since the survey methodology reports a survey of 1,011 adults—not just sports fans—I assume that the data below represent a subset of those Americans who follow sports. But, according to the data, that is 89% of all Americans (I’m one of the other 11%).

Yes, exactly half of the fans (and 55% of football fans) see supernatural influences in sports.

Some highlights from the survey, taken directly from the report (see the link above for more data, such as which areas of the U.S. see more influence of the supernatural):

Demons—or Satan!—afflict some teams: