Watching Live Sport Can Boost Mental Wellbeing – Here’s Why

It’s been a huge summer for sport here in the UK. Last week British wildcard Arthur Fery made history by storming through to the semi-final of the Wimbledon Championships. Then, on Saturday night, England beat Norway 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup thanks to midfielder Jude Bellingham’s winning goal during extra time. Pubs across the country went wild – there’s nothing like the endorphin-boosting, exhilarating buzz of catching the game surrounded by friends with a pint in hand (particularly, of course, when your team wins). And turns out there’s a whole body of scientific research showing just why watching sport boosts wellbeing – not only in the moment itself, but beyond the final goal.

How Watching Sport Makes Us Happier

We all know exercise pumps up your endorphins, a chemical in the brain which helps improve mood and release stress. However, you can also reap some of the benefits without stepping foot on the pitch. 

After experiencing the joy of watching live football with her family, cognitive scientist Helen Keyes set out to explore the science behind it. Along with her fellow researchers at Angela Ruskin University, she surveyed over 7,000 people to see if attending a live sporting event in the last year changed markers like anxiety and loneliness. They found that attending a live sport match significantly boosted measures of wellbeing – life satisfaction increased, and loneliness decreased. 

This makes sense, given the sense of camaraderie so often felt at live sporting events; it’s a way of connecting with strangers and nurturing a sense of shared identity and belonging. But tuning in from home can also improve happiness levels, with another study finding that watching sports on TV can also boost joy.

Naturally, winning ups the elation even more. Research published in the journal Communication and Sport found that fans of winning sports teams had higher self-esteem two days following a game. Scientists believe this stems from a psychological concept known as ‘basking in reflected glory’, coined by psychologist Dr. Robert Cialdini in the 1970s – essentially, sharing in praise from a win simply by supporting the team behind it.

Psychologists also point out that while it can be anxiety-inducing when the game is close, ultimately watching sport can serve as a stress reliever, taking your mind off work and other worries for a few hours.

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These feelings can have a longer-term impact than you might think, too. In 2024, scientists at Waseda University’s Faculty of Human Sciences set out to explore how watching sport affects our happiness, conducting three studies on over 20,200 Japanese participants using a mixture of brain scans, self-reports and existing data. 

The first two studies confirmed a pattern between elevated wellbeing and regularly watching sport – with particularly beneficial effects from popular activities such as baseball, in comparison with less popular sports such as golf. 

However, the most interesting study was the third, which looked into the brain activity of 14 participants while they watched sports, using MRI scanning. This found sports viewing triggered activation in the brain’s reward circuits, which release feelings of happiness and pleasure. 

Interestingly, those who watched sports more often displayed higher grey matter volume in areas associated with reward circuits, suggesting that regular sports viewing may gradually induce changes in brain structures – and, ultimately, long-term improvements in happiness levels. Plus, while previous research has primarily focused on sports fans, this research sampled a wider proportion of the population, irrespective of their relationship to sport.

‘Both subjective and objective measures of well-being were found to be positively influenced by engaging in sports viewing,’ said Professor Professor Shintaro Sato, who led the study. ‘By inducing structural changes in the brain’s reward system over time, it fosters long-term benefits for individuals. For those seeking to enhance their overall well-being, regularly watching sports, particularly popular ones such as baseball or soccer, can serve as an effective remedy.’ 

All this talk got you even more excited for Wednesday’s game? Here’s where to watch the World Cup in London.