The Buccaneers have the most Republican-leaning NFL fan base in the country

In November 2016, Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans sat on the bench during the national anthem in protest of Donald Trump’s election as president. Two times later on, he apologized and mentioned he would go back to standing.

Why was Evans’ protest so short-lived?

The quickest rationalization is that these who took offense, like a Republican condition senator, were being loud and insistent in their phone calls for the Bucs to discipline, trade or release Evans, whose silent demonstration coincided with the NFL’s “Salute to Service” armed service appreciation and products advertising and marketing campaign.

“It was by no means my intention (to offend armed service members) as I have remarkable regard for the males and women of all ages who serve our nation,” Evans mentioned in a assertion. “I have pretty powerful emotions with regards to some of the a lot of problems that exist in our culture now. I chose to sit as an expression of my irritation in direction of this year’s election.”

Would the backlash have been as vociferous had Evans been participating in in San Francisco, New York or Philadelphia?

Unlikely.

Evans’ protest took area in front of the most Republican-leaning supporter base in the nation, according to a late 2017 poll of 2,290 NFL fans commissioned by FiveThirtyEight. Of the fans who picked the Bucs as one particular of their beloved teams, 34.3 p.c determined on their own as Republicans and 24.8 p.c determined on their own as Democrats, a 9.5 proportion point variation. The typical margin throughout all marketplaces was a 6.3 point lean towards Democrats.

The poll also confirmed a split along racial strains. About 90 p.c of the Republican Bucs fans categorised on their own as white 65 p.c of the Democrat Bucs fans categorised on their own as white.

Tampa Bay’s Republican tilt is not a shock contemplating that Trump received Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties in the 2016 standard election (Hillary Clinton received Hillsborough), but the margin is. The margin right here is higher than in Dallas (2.7 details) and Houston (5. details) put together.

You can examine the full FiveThirtyEight article right here and obtain its data right here.

Examine extra:

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[ What the Bucs can learn from their 1995 draft ]

Make contact with Thomas Bassinger at [email protected] Abide by @tometrics.