It’s the ideology, stupid! Do sport participation and sport consumer choices differ between the left and the right?

Political ideology is a key factor shaping attitudes and behaviours, yet its impact on how individuals engage with sport, through participation or spectatorship, remains underexplored. Drawing on the theory of politicultural sorting, this study examines whether sport serves as a site where leisure choices are associated with underlying ideological values. This paper examines how political orientation relates to sport involvement across two areas: (1) general participation patterns, and (2) how the purpose of a sporting event influences willingness to participate. A survey, with a 2 × 2 vignette experiment, was conducted in three municipalities in Flanders, Belgium (N = 650). The vignette manipulated event framing along two axes: (1) community versus individual benefits, and (2) low- versus high-intensity activities. Additional questions covered sport motivations and participation settings (e.g. (non-) club-based and competitive contexts). Results indicate that ideological orientation is not associated with variation in the number or type of sport practised, nor the participation setting. However, the vignette experiment reveals a distinct ideological divide: left-leaning individuals are significantly more inclined to participate in or spectate at sporting events framed around community benefits, whereas right-leaning respondents show no comparable change in intention. These findings demonstrate that political ideology influences how people interpret the social meaning of sporting events, even when it does not affect everyday participation. The research offers practical insights for sport managers and policymakers. By tailoring communication to diverse ideological values, local authorities can use sport more effectively to promote engagement and social cohesion across ideological boundaries.