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Study Links Domestic Violence To NFL Team Losses

By Susie Jones, NewsRadio 830 WCCO

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Some sports fans are taking out their frustrations on their loved ones after their team loses a big game, according to a new study linking sports and domestic violence.

Researchers at University of California - Berkeley found that reports to police of men assaulting their partners rose 10 percent in some areas after the local pro-football team lost a game it was supposed to win.

They looked at looked at 900 regular season NFL games spanning 11 years for the study.

Liz Richards with the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women says they believe it is more an issue of stress, and being predisposed to domestic violence.

"If there are highly emotional charged games in which somebody lost that increase in stress ... that makes sense you would see an increase in incidence," said Richards.

WCCO's Susie Jones Interviews Liz Richards

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Researchers compared the betting odds to the results of regular-season games for six National Football League teams including the Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans.

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