Domestic violence programs at San Quentin report that during Super Bowl Sunday there are more domestic violence arrests in the nation than on any other day. 

“One of the heaviest betting, drinking and celebratory days for what is perceived as the last bastion of a misperceived male dominance — infiltrated by women for one game — cheering for the cutest quarterback, the team with the best uniforms and not having a true buy-in nor understanding of the game. With their male partner intoxicated and gambling, that is a recipe for disaster,” said resident Raoul Sanchez.

The programs’ analysis was corroborated by La Troube University’s Centre for Sport and Social Impact, which sponsored a report that suggests aggression through America’s most watched sporting event lends itself as a toxic elixir for domestic violence and intimate partner violence.

According to La Troube’s report titled Major sports events and domestic violence: A systemic review, domestic violence continues as a global epidemic in which 27% of women over the age of 15 report they’ve been subjected to domestic violence.

The report states that additional risk factors for domestic violence during major events such as the Super Bowl may include harmful masculinities that involve poor attitudes towards women, male peer relationships and the harmful use of alcohol. 

Because of these risk factors, the report concludes that violence against women increases during major sporting events and results in an increase of reported domestic violence cases.

The report found that during football game days there are higher total domestic violence arrests compared to other Sundays. Football game days had higher mean scores for domestic violence arrests than basketball or baseball game days.

“Super Bowl is trying to establish itself as a national holiday, so I do see the relationship between the two,” said resident Lou Barnabei.

Kirsty Forsdike, Ph.D., Grant O’Sullivan, Ph.D., and Leesa Hooker, Ph.D., authors of the La Troube study reported that a rivalry game that produces an unexpected loss has a greater effect on domestic violence reporting than a non-rival game (20% vs. 8%). They also reported that frustrating games, which are defined as games where there are a high number of sacks, turnovers or penalties, and unexpected losses following frustrating games, are associated with a 15% increase in domestic violence reports as compared to unexpected losses following non-frustrating games (7%).

If the team is in play-off contention and is either playing a rival or the game was frustrating, resulting in an unexpected loss, there is a 17% increase in domestic violence reports as compared to a 13% increase for all play-off games.

Researchers found that the connection between an upset loss and a spike in domestic violence reports occurred immediately after a game and not during or several hours post-game completion.

The La Troube report sampled 26,051 domestic violence reports and 2,697 domestic violence incidences of violence during high profile games and concluded that when games matter the most, there are more domestic violence dispatches.

The La Troube report concluded that there is a significant correlation between Super Bowl games and an increase in domestic violence.

La Troube concludes, “That it is not just a major sporting event that is associated with an increase in domestic violence, but rather it may be the culture of a particular sport in a particular country, compounded by the potential significant rivalry between teams and how important, or emotionally salient, the game is.”

The report said domestic violence is under-reported to police, and that other information sources for determining domestic violence incidences are needed for future studies — sources that may include hospital admissions and calls to helplines — that may better identify delays between a game, time of the domestic violence incident and actual reporting or calls for help. 

The report added that the impact of alcohol is not clear. However, it does assume alcohol is a risk factor for domestic violence and has been connected to sports and violence. 

Development of interventions that can target these events has so far been hampered by a lack of scholarship and a lack of accountability within the sports industry.