Play Ball! Can Watching Sports Improve Your Wellbeing?

I grew up in a household that loved watching sports - particularly American football and baseball. And since we lived in San Diego, California, we were especially fond of the local professional teams - the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego Padres.

Now, these aren’t bandwagon teams. The Padres have never won the World Series. The Chargers have never won the Super Bowl (and even upset a lot of fans when they moved to Los Angeles). But they’re fun to watch. They have their own charm, especially if they represent your home team. And when they do win, it feels euphoric.

In fact you could say that it’s the tough losses that make winning feel even better. That’s the mentality I’ve developed over the years as a Chargers and a Padres fan, anyway.

And now the science backs me up!

A recent study out of Waseda University in Japan looked at the brains of sports fans and what they found might just be a “home run” for brain health.

There have been plenty of studies that support the theory that watching sports can improve your wellbeing.

These studies assert that watching sports is a way to build community and camaraderie. It’s been shown to be a source of happy memories and even a way to relax after a long day. It’s even been linked to lower crime rates and increased productivity.

After surveying 20,000 Japanese residents, the team from Waseda University found that those who said they were avid sports fans also reported higher levels of wellbeing compared to non-sports watchers.

They then looked into whether the type of sport had an effect on this. They found that more exciting sports like baseball gave a bigger boost to wellness than other, more relaxing sports like golf.

They then did something new. For the first time ever, scientists used brain-imaging techniques to observe how the brain reacts to watching sports in real-time!

And what they discovered leads to a new theory on why watching sports improves wellness.

It turns out that as you watch your team make a double-play, sack a quarterback or score a 3-pointer, the reward centers of your brain light up!

This leads to an increase in the positive neurochemicals flooding into your brain, the benefits of which improve mood, balance emotions, relieve stress, and more.

They also cross-examined brain scans of those who watch sports and those who don’t, and they found that those who watch sports regularly also had more grey matter surrounding these reward structures!

Grey matter plays a major role in brain function, leading to the theory that watching sports improves your brain’s ability to activate the reward center. This could explain why those who watch sports also report more overall happiness.

Wow - so watching sports is a great way to improve your brain, right?

It appears so… though just like everything in life, there are some risks if you go too deep.

Like I said before, I’ve watched my favorite teams endure some gut-wrenching losses. There’s a certain rollercoaster of emotions that can happen when your team goes up early in the game, and slowly starts to fall apart as their opponents put together a stellar comeback.

If you watch enough sports, you’ll be on both sides of this coin at some point.

But what’s actually happening in the brain when your team loses?

One study from the Universidad San Sebastián in Chile decided to find out. They looked into how the brains of avid soccer fans reacted to the results of a rivalry game between two of the most popular Chilean soccer teams.

Using fMRI tools to examine the brain activity of over 40 of the most passionate fans in real-time, the scientists found that those who watched their team lose this rivalry match had some troubling brain activity.

Specifically, the connection between their prefrontal cortex and their limbic system became disrupted.

The limbic system is where your raw emotion is generated. It’s where our fight-or-flight instincts originate.

The prefrontal cortex is responsible for regulating the emotions created by the limbic system. It’s what we use to make good decisions and creatively solve problems.

But for the avid Chilean soccer fans who watched their team lose to their biggest rival…

…their ability to regulate their emotions became hampered.

“The zealousness found among some sports fans can serve as a compelling example of intense emotional investment, occasional aggressive behavior and impaired rationality,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Francisco Zamorano Mendieta.

Dr. Mendieta suggests that when sports fans become so attached to their team that it becomes their whole identity, then instances where the team loses can have a greater impact on their brain and as a result, their behavior.

Just like with anything in life, the key is to find the balance between enjoying the game and having too deep of an investment in it.

So, to help you enjoy watching sports to their fullest and get the benefits without the drawback, here are some tips from a fan who’s seen his favorite teams take some big losses.

Three Tips for More Benefits While Watching Sports

Tip #1: Make it a Social Activity

Watching sports with my family growing up, and now with my own wife and children today, has created some of my fondest memories.

It’s fun to share in the excitement of a home run or the thrill of an interception with others. I love jumping up and down and cheering, startling neighbors and the occasional passersby, which allows us to be silly and let loose, leading to fun and laughs.

Watching sports can even become like a ritual to share and deepen relationships and build community. And having a support system on-hand also serves as a buffer from the worst effects when your team does lose.

Tip #2: Practice Mindful Watching

Whether you go to a sports bar, a pub, or just like to watch at home, you can practice mindfulness while you watch your favorite team. This can be just making sure you get up and move around during the commercial breaks. Make sure you’re not drinking too much alcohol, and take deep breaths if your team starts to lose.

If your team does lose, try to look for the silver lining.

“Dang, we lost but at least the quarterback had a record-breaking game.”

“Oh man, we lost, but we’re still in the running for the championship.”

“Well, we lost but at least I got to spend time with my friends.”

By switching your focus to the positives, it minimizes the negative effects even if your team fumbles on the 1 yard line.

Tip #3: Moderate Your Investment in the Game

It’s crucial that you set realistic expectations. 99% of the time, your team will lose at least a couple of games throughout the season. And as any seasoned fan knows, losing is part of the game.

Heck, if there wasn’t any risk of losing, it would be boring! Just make sure that you aren’t investing your whole identity into a sports team’s success on the field.

That’s true for how much you emotionally invest in the game, but also be careful about investing your money too.

Sports betting has really taken off thanks to phone apps and the ability to bet on everything from coin flips to strikeouts. Not to mention buy-in “fantasy leagues” where a “game within the game” takes place. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and lose it all, so be careful when it comes to gambling on sports. It can quickly turn into an addiction if left unchecked.

Remember that the whole point of watching sports is to have fun; to join a community and bond with friends and family. If you keep those goals in the forefront, you’ll have a great time.

As we used to say in little league…

It’s not whether you win or lose - it’s how you play the game.

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