Progressive publication blames Trump and Tucker Carlson for the plummeting popularity of professional sports

An article published by The New Republic last week has linked the plummeting popularity of professional sports to comments made by both Tucker Carlson and former President Donald Trump.

Titled Republicans have ruined sports for Republicans, they surmise that comments made by right-leaning media outlets and commentators calling these leagues "too woke, too liberal, or too tied to the Democratic Party" have led Republicans to protest watching.

"Baseball was supposed to be America’s pastime: happy, unifying, fundamentally nonpolitical,” said Carlson. “President [Biden] is willing to destroy even something as wholesome as the country’s traditional game purely to increase [his] power.”

When asked in an interview with Newsmax, Trump said "I would say boycott baseball, why not... Woke is not good for our country."

The MLB was hit hard in ratings by their recent decision to move the All Star Game from Atlanta to Colorado in response to the voting laws passed in Georgia in March. The MLB reportedly moved the game to avoid individual player and sponsor protests that could endanger such a large game for the league.

"In mid-March, MLB’s net favorability rating among Republicans was 47 percent, the highest of the four major U.S. sports leagues," reported Axios earlier in April. "Since then, it has plummeted to 12 percent, dropping the league below the NFL and NHL, according to new data from Morning Consult.”

According to that Morning Consult poll, the NHL remains the most even amongst political parties, with 31 percent of Democrats, 22 percent of Independents, and 26 percent of Republicans viewing the league favorably. That league also remains the most constant in ratings amongst Republicans, as opposed to the NFL, NBA, and MLB which experienced more volatile ratings in the wake of the George Floyd killing and subsequent widespread protests that grew within leagues.

The New Republic fails to mention though, that a growing number Americans are fed up with sports teams becoming entwined with politics. They mention that leagues have leaned conservative in the past, citing the NFL's use of military symbolism and the MLB's aging fan base that historically leans Republican in voting. They also cite sports team owners past donations to campaigns and super PACS. These political leanings were not as overt as current displays.

"Over the past three election cycles, MLB owners donated roughly $20.4 million to campaigns and super PACs. $15.2 million (74.5 percent) went to Republicans, while $5.2 million (25.5 percent) went to Democrats,” wrote Axios.

An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll conducted earlier in April showed a majority of Americans favored sports teams and organizations staying out of politics, with 55 percent opposing teams using their public role to influence political, cultural, or social change.

While Republicans were more likely to want sports and politics separate at 84 percent, that's not to say its only Republicans. 58 percent of Independents responded saying they oppose, as well as nearly a third of Democrats, at 30 percent.

"It is really the right, in this instance, that has insisted on pushing politics into professional sports. In its universe, keeping politics out of sports means pretending that a racist voting law doesn’t exist; it means insisting that there is no world outside the arena, which has never been true and is itself a political position," The New Republic article reads.