Sunday Football or Church? A Case Study in Substitutes and Complements
Prior research has suggested that secular competition (e.g., holidays, vacations, travel, ending blue laws, etc.) on Sundays can reduce religious service attendance. The implication is that secular competition is a substitute for religion, not a complement. However, to date, no research has looked s...
| Published in: | Review of religious research |
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| Authors: | ; ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer
[2019]
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| In: |
Review of religious research
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
USA
/ Church attendance
/ Leisure activity
/ Football
/ Game
|
| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CH Christianity and Society KBQ North America RB Church office; congregation |
| Further subjects: | B
Related goods
B Clinch games B secular competition B Substitutes versus complements B Blue laws B Religious service attendance |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | Prior research has suggested that secular competition (e.g., holidays, vacations, travel, ending blue laws, etc.) on Sundays can reduce religious service attendance. The implication is that secular competition is a substitute for religion, not a complement. However, to date, no research has looked specifically at the effect of National Football League home games on Sunday religious service attendance. In this paper, we use attendance data from a United Methodist Church located less than five miles from a National Football League stadium in the Southeastern US from 2010 to 2017 to evaluate whether Sunday home games affect religious service attendance. Adjusting for seasonal variations in attendance, we find that early home football games significantly reduce service attendance. While just a single case study, these findings support the idea that secular events and activities are a substitute for religious attendance and not a complement. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s13644-019-00367-0 |