AmeriCorps Project: Athletes and Engagement

In 2022, the Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) at George Mason University was awarded a research grant from AmeriCorps to examine the degree to which athletes use their visibility to strengthen communities. 

This study takes place over the course of three years. In the first year, we conducted a web-based survey with over 3,400 individuals across seven metropolitan areas (i.e. Washington, D.C/Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle) in the United States in order to understand their level of sports engagement and participation, social media usage, and attitudes about immigrants and immigration. Some major findings include:

• Respondents were more likely to perceive immigration to be a problem nationally and were less likely to perceive immigration to be a problem locally.
• The more frequent interaction individuals have with immigrants, the more likely they are to have positive friendly contact with immigrants and the less likely they are to see immigration to be less of a problem at the national level.
• Respondents who are sports fans reported more positive friendly interactions with immigrants compared to respondents who are not sport fans.
• The more sport oriented a respondent is, the more frequent and positive interaction individuals have with immigrants.

In the second year of the study, we are working with personnel across sports teams at the professional, minor, amateur, club, and collegiate levels within four select metro areas (i.e. Washington, D.C/Baltimore, Miami, Detroit, and Seattle) to develop social media and potentially in-person campaigns to highlight the players on their team. To read and listen to conversations and interviews with athletes click here.

Lastly, in the third year, we will conduct surveys in the seven metropolitan areas to assess the impact of the social media and/or in-person campaigns on the fan base.