Study Finds Significant Rise in Incidents of Rape on Days When a University’s Football Team Plays

New research by scientists are Montana State University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Wollongong in Australia finds that for educational institutions in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I, incidents of rape increase significantly on days when the university’s football plays.

The data shows that the number of reported rapes increase by 28 percent on days when the university’s football team has a game. When the university football team plays at home, the number of rapes increase by 41 percent. The authors state that “the effects are driven largely by 17-24 year old offenders and by offenders unknown to the victim, but we also find significant effects on incidents involving offenders of other ages and on incidents involving offenders known to the victim.”

The paper, “College Party Culture and Sexual Assault,” is a working paper of the National Bureau of Economic Research. It may be accessed here.