Having a religious affiliation doesn't prevent betting on sports

Phys · Apr 28, 2026 · 983 words · By Emily Caldwell

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Having a religious affiliation doesn't prevent betting on sports

The article discusses a study published in the Sociology of Sport Journal regarding the relationship between religious affiliation and sports gambling in the United States. Researchers found that religious identity does not uniformly discourage gambling, noting specifically that infrequent attendance and Catholic affiliation were associated with higher rates of sports betting.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Having a religious affiliation doesn't prevent betting on sports Stephanie Baum Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Lead Editor Having a religious affiliation doesn't stop people from betting on sports in the United States, according to a new study.

Why it matters

Results showed that people who infrequently attend religious services are more likely to gamble on sports than people who attend services at least weekly or who never worship publicly.

Common ground

The work appears in the Sociology of Sport Journal.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Having a religious affiliation doesn't prevent betting on sports?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Results showed that people who infrequently attend religious services are more likely to gamble on sports than people who attend services at least weekly or who never worship publicly?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-04-religious-affiliation-doesnt-sports.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

info Single Source 3

verified Verified By Reference 3

check_circle Corroborated 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info

Claim 1: “Results showed that people who infrequently attend religious services are more likely to gamble on sports than people who attend services at least weekly or who never worship publicly.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is found in a web search result that appears to be a summary or report of the study, but there are no other independent sources confirming this specific statistical finding.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Results showed that people who infrequently attend religious services are more likely to gamble on sports than people who attend services at least weekly or who never worship publicly. The work appear…
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-religious-affiliation-doesnt-s…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Among those who attend no more than a few times a year, about three-in-ten say they do not go to religious services for a simple reason: They are not believers. But a much larger share stay away not b…
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/08/01/why-american…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Americans who attend church services at least once a month are more likely to view the QAnon conspiracy theory favorably than those who attend less frequently, an Economist/YouGov poll released Tuesda…
https://theweek.com/qanon/1003082/americans-who-attend-churc…

schedule

Claim 2: “Catholics also reported the largest sports gambling expenses.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 3: “Participants between the ages of 21 and 65, who came from all 50 states, answered the survey online between the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of generic survey tool links and Wikipedia entries about US Route 50 and the $50 bill, which are irrelevant to the survey's demographics and dates.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — U.S. Bicycle Route 50 (USBR 50) is a planned east–west cross country U.S. Bicycle Route that currently consists of two discontiguous sections: a western section between San Francisco and Border, Utah,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Bicycle_Route_50

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching 3,019 miles (4,859 km) from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States fifty-dollar bill (US$50) is a denomination of United States currency. The obverse features American Civil War general and 18th U.S. president (1869–1877) Ulysses S. Grant, while the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_fifty-dollar_bil…

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 4: “Knoester conducted the study with first author Laura Upenieks, associate professor of sociology at Baylor University.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources identify Chris Knoester and Laura Upenieks (Associate Professor at Baylor University) as the researchers/authors associated with this study.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The study is based on data extracted from the US National Sports and Society Survey, conducted in 2018 and 2019 by Ohio State University with Chris Knoester, senior author of the study and professor o…
https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/study-reveals-youth-who-p…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Laura Upenieks Laura UpenieksAssociate Professor of Sociology, Baylor UniversityVerified email at baylor.edu.
https://scholar.google.co.id/citations?user=NzwC_FQAAAAJ&hl=…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — While dropping out of sports was associated with poorer mental health, “not all reasons for dropping out had the same effects,” said Laura Upenieks, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor …
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/06/youth-sports-reduces-…

schedule

Claim 5: “On average, respondents invested $57 in sports bets—an average of $46 for women and $91 for men—and, among those who gambled, reported winning $165.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 6: “Catholics—and especially Catholic men—stood out in the data as a group most likely to engage in sports gambling.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Catholics, and specifically Catholic men, were identified as a group most likely to engage in sports gambling in the context of this research.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Catholics - and especially Catholic men - stood out in the data as a group most likely to engage in sports gambling. Overall, researchers found that religious identity can be both a protective factor …
https://news.osu.edu/having-a-religious-affiliation-doesnt-p…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Here, gender differences were apparent, as well. Catholic women had a 19% probability of betting on sports in the past year compared to a 45% probability for Catholic men.
https://www.newswise.com/articles/having-a-religious-affilia…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This article describes an analysis of gambling and gambling pathology from a telephone survey of 2631 U.S. residents, using Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID). Catholics were more likel…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03064…

verified

Claim 7: “The work appears in the Sociology of Sport Journal.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms the existence of the Sociology of Sport Journal as a peer-reviewed academic journal.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list presents representative academic journals covering sociology and its various subfields.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sociology_journals

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Sociology of Sport Journal is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the sociology of sport. It was established in 1984 and is published by Human Kinetics Publishers on behalf of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_Sport_Journal

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sociology of sport, alternately referred to as sports sociology, is a sub-discipline of sociology which focuses on sports as social phenomena. It is an area of study concerned with the relationship be…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociology_of_sport

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 8: “Those surveyed volunteered to participate through the American Population Panel, run by Ohio State's Center for Human Resource Research.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of generic links to survey tools (Microsoft Forms, SurveyMonkey) and general Wikipedia entries about Ohio, with no mention of the American Population Panel or the Center for Human Resource Research.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — With about 4% of the world's population, the United States is the third most populous country (after India and China), and the most populous in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere. Its estimated p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_Sta…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ohio ( oh-HY-oh) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Canadian province of Ontario to the north (through Lake Erie), Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Symmes Township ( SIMZ) is one of the twelve townships of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 15,642 as of the 2020 census.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmes_Township,_Hamilton_Coun…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 9: “women, particularly women with religious affiliations, are less likely than men to place sports bets.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While general risk-taking trends for women are mentioned in other sources, the specific claim regarding women with religious affiliations in this study is only supported by one relevant search result.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Having a religious affiliation doesn't stop people from betting on sports in the United States, according to a new study. Results showed that people who infrequently attend religious services ...
https://www.newswise.com/articles/having-a-religious-affilia…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Across many real-world domains, men engage in more risky behaviors than do women.To examine some of the beliefs and preferences that underlie this difference,657 participants assessed their likelihood…
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/judgment-and-decisio…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Past research shows that men are more likely than women to take risks (e.g., Hagan, Simpson, and Gillis 1988, Bromiley and Curley 1992, Zuckerman, Ball, and Black 1990, Forthun et al. 1999), and that …
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7566885/

schedule

Claim 10: “Overall, 17% of respondents (616 people) reported betting on sports in the previous year, which broke down by sex to about 20% of men and 15% of women who took the survey.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 11: “the May 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned a federal ban on sports betting that had prohibited sports gambling in most states for 25 years.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to evaluate this claim.

schedule

Claim 12: “the analysis specifically singled out Catholics as more likely to bet on sports than people who identified as atheist, agnostic or with no religious affiliation and Protestants.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 13: “The study used survey data on 3,701 adults who participated in the National Sports and Society Survey (NSASS), sponsored by Ohio State's Sportsand Society Initiative.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific detail about 3,701 adults and the NSASS is mentioned in the context of the study in web results, but not corroborated by multiple independent authoritative sources.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, or simply St. Lawrence Lowlands, is a physiographic region of Eastern Canada that comprises a section of southern Ontario bounded on the north by the Canadian Sh…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes–St._Lawrence_Lowla…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sports in the United States are a significant aspect of the nation's culture. Historically, the most popular sport has been baseball; however, since the mid 20th century American football has slowly b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_in_the_United_States

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 14: “Catholic women had a 19% probability of betting on sports in the past year compared to a 45% probability for Catholic men.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 15: “legal U.S. sportsbooks now taking in over $150 billion in bets annually”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to evaluate this claim.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.