Down, set, spread: The association between college football and COVID-19

Abstract

Objectives

Before the Fall 2020 semester, college presidents and the NCAA made decisions about playing college football. The current study aims to examine the association between college football games and COVID-19 infections at universities.

Participants

More than 1,800 college campuses nationwide from The New York Times database on COVID-19 cases on college campuses.

Methods

Random effects negative binomial regression is used to analyze the association between college football games, membership to college football organizations, and COVID-19 cases at the universities studied.

Results

The number of football games played was significantly associated with higher COVID-19 cases at the universities studied. Membership to certain college football organizations was also significantly associated with higher COVID-19 cases, particularly FBS and Power Five conferences.

Conclusions

These findings provide a baseline for subsequent analyses across other sports and advocates for continued assessment of protocols that ensure the safety and well-being of student-athletes, fans, and university communities.

Keywords:

• COVID-19 cases
• college football
• college campuses
• college health

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.