Sports victories, baby booms linked
By Erin Beresini, Outside
It’s possible sports victories trigger local baby booms. In fact, a study published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal claims just that.
On May 6, 2009, Spanish researchers wrote, Football Club Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta scored a last minute goal against Chelsea FC, earning Barça a spot in the UEFA Champions League Final. That night, Catalonians celebrated by shooting off fireworks, and banging pots and pans, among other things. Nine months later, the Catalonian birthrate shot up 45 percent, according to an informal survey of five local hospitals.
While not scientifically investigated to the extent of Catalonia’s so-called “Iniesta generation,” other sports victories have also been fingered in local baby booms.
Take the “Red Sox phenomenon” of 2005, for instance. Nine months after the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series, the Boston Globe reported anecdotal evidence that a lot of Red Sox fans had, um, banged pots and pans in celebration.
New Zealanders got busy after the All Blacks defeated France—in Oz—to win the Rugby World Cup in 2011. Nine months after the victory, the New Zealand Herald reported that maternity units at local hospitals were overflowing with women in labor.