ANN ARBOR, Mich. \u2014 Wearing a navy blue Harris-Walz jacket and a camo baseball cap, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat in a private suite in Michigan Stadium on Saturday, cheering on a football game with 110,339 other fans and giving the campaign a high visibility perch on a busy September weekend.<\/p>\n
Eight hours later and more than 750 miles away in Tuscaloosa, Ala., GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump settled into his own seat in Bryant-Denny Stadium for the much-anticipated showdown between No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama. Alabama is reliably red territory on the political map, but the appearance provided Trump an opportunity to nudge his way into the night\u2019s biggest spotlight and partake in one of the country\u2019s most popular fall rituals.<\/p>\n
The presidential campaign season overlaps with the football season, but rarely have the two been so closely intertwined, as both campaigns have used the country\u2019s most popular sport to reach voters and shape their candidates\u2019 image.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Walz\u2019s appearance Saturday at a college game \u2014 conveniently located in a swing state and featuring the flagship university of his own home state \u2014 should not come as a surprise.<\/p>\n
But over the past decade, many in Walz\u2019s party have been critical of football amid mounting concerns about concussions, student-athlete pay and the future of the game. In 2014, President Barack Obama memorably said that if he had a son, he would steer him away from the sport, and right-wing commentators accused their left-leaning counterparts of waging a \u201cwar on football.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, Walz \u2014 a former high school football coach and educator \u2014 has struck a different tone, telling crowds at rallies and fundraisers that although Vice President Kamala Harris \u201ctook back\u201d freedom, the American flag and family values from Republicans, he was the one to take back football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will admit to this: It was me who took the football back,\u201d he said at one recent fundraiser in McLean, Va.<\/p>\n
Though Trump has dinged Walz for being an assistant \u2014 not the head coach \u2014 at Mankato West High School in Minnesota, Democrats have treated Walz\u2019s football credentials as a key part of his bio, and Harris and other Democrats routinely refer to him as \u201cCoach\u201d at rallies.<\/p>\n
Deploying the pigskin playbook makes political sense. Around two-thirds of Democrats and nearly three-quarters of Republicans and independents are football fans, according to a 2023 Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. Politicians have varying levels of comfort shedding their suits and ties on fall weekends, but attending football games offers an opportunity for candidates to reach large numbers of voters while projecting relatability.<\/p>\n
Professional football is an all-but unstoppable cultural force in America: 93 of the top 100 television broadcasts last year were National Football League games, according to Nielsen. And college football, which attracts smaller audiences than the NFL but still draws millions of fans each week, is expected to grow: ESPN recently agreed to pay $1.3 billion per year to broadcast college football\u2019s expanded 12-team playoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball is the most popular sport in America, and by showing that they love and care about the sport, candidates can try to make a personal connection with ordinary voters and to show them that they are just like them,\u201d said Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University. \u201cMaking these kinds of personal connections is incredibly powerful on the campaign trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walz and his family were planning to attend the Michigan-Minnesota matchup even before he was selected as Harris\u2019s running mate, according to a person familiar with his schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail it. His appearance had obvious political value, however: It earned him valuable \u2014 and free \u2014 media coverage, and allowed him to introduce himself to voters outside of the context of a political ad.<\/p>\n
Democrats have used football games as an opportunity to reach voters in other ways, too. The Harris-Walz campaign and its allies have advertised heavily during game broadcasts and flown banners pulled by small airplanes over college stadiums located in key swing states: \u201cJD Vance \u2018hearts\u2019 Ohio State + Project 2025\u201d in Ann Arbor earlier this month, referring to the Heritage Foundation-led policy platform \u2014 written by Trump allies but publicly disavowed by Trump \u2014 that Democrats have sought to saddle the Republican with; \u201cJump Around! Beat Trump + Project 2025,\u201d in Wisconsin; and \u201cBeat Trump, Sack Project 2025\u201d in Pennsylvania. Walz himself has characterized Project 2025 as a far-right \u201cplaybook,\u201d and told voters that as a coach, he knows that \u201cif you take the time to make a playbook, you\u2019re going to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, at a pair of college games in North Carolina, the party paid for electronic billboards to parade through pregame tailgate parties, highlighting Trump\u2019s relationship with Mark Robinson and past laudatory comments he\u2019s showered on the state\u2019s embattled Republican gubernatorial candidate.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocrats are leaving it all on the field in the race to November, and that means reaching voters through nontraditional methods,\u201d Abhi Rahman, the Democratic National Committee\u2019s deputy communications director, said in a statement. \u201c \u2026 We\u2019re bringing this message right to America\u2019s backyard, whether it\u2019s a billboard on their way to work or a plane flying over a college-football game.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the weeks ahead, the Harris-Walz campaign plans to ramp up its presence in the sports world with TV buys during some of the year\u2019s biggest college games featuring teams from battleground states.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, it launched Athletes for Harris, an effort to mobilize coaches and athletes, noting in the announcement that \u201cathletes are among the most trusted voices for key voting blocs, especially young men\u201d and that \u201csporting events and games are also key moments that draw in large and politically diverse audiences, audiences that are increasing their reach with Gen Z and younger men.\u201d The group includes 15 Pro Football Hall of Famers \u2014 Emmitt Smith, Drew Pearson and Calvin Johnson among them \u2014 who endorsed Harris-Walz.<\/p>\n
Even in states and communities with sharp political divisions, football can be a great unifier, like it is for Dawn Nettlow, 57, and Betsy Andreu, 57, former college roommates at the University of Michigan who now live in Dearborn, Mich., and attended the game together on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Nettlow is backing Harris, Andreu is not.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope what happens at the game today will happen on November 5 to Tim Walz,\u201d said Andreu, clad in Michigan gear, correctly predicting a Minnesota loss.<\/p>\n
Nettlow, however, said she was excited to learn Walz was at the game \u2014 and that she was unaware he was a former high school coach himself.<\/p>\n
Football has often been a domain occupied by Republican candidates, and college football especially is popular in red-leaning states throughout the Deep South and rural Midwest. So it\u2019s no wonder that Republicans at the top of presidential tickets have aligned themselves closely with the game. Ronald Reagan played in college and portrayed \u201cthe Gipper\u201d \u2014 Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame coach \u2014 on the silver screen. Gerald Ford played college ball for Michigan, Richard M. Nixon reportedly drew up plays for the Washington NFL team and Jack Kemp played quarterback in the NFL.<\/p>\n
Although Al Gore and President Joe Biden both played football in high school (and Biden continued his freshman year at the University of Delaware), the Democrats have typically run candidates more closely associated with other sports. John F. Kerry was a cyclist, among other athletic pursuits, President Barack Obama played basketball, Bill Clinton golfed, and Michael Dukakis and Jimmy Carter were both runners.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s own history with the sport is also complicated. Although he famously owned a USFL team in the 1980s, he has been blamed by some for the downfall of that league and failed in his efforts to buy the NFL\u2019s Buffalo Bills a decade ago. But as a politician, he knew football was political red meat. He first attended an Alabama game in Tuscaloosa in 2019, went to the 2020 national championship game in New Orleans and also made four visits to the annual Army-Navy game. Last November, as he was battling Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, for the Republican nomination, Trump attended the Clemson-South Carolina rivalry game in Columbia, S.C.<\/p>\n
Trump has used football to ignite his base, and the sport became a flash point in the culture wars during the 2016 presidential race. Trump and Republican leaders called out NFL players, such as Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem, protesting police violence and racial inequity. He has repeatedly challenged NFL brass and team owners, saying professional football \u201chas become soft\u201d and \u201cboring as hell,\u201d and has been critical of rules designed to make the game safer, recently calling the NFL\u2019s new kickoff rule the \u201cBEGINNING OF THE END,\u201d in a Truth Social post.<\/p>\n
The NFL plays its games in the country\u2019s largest cities, which are reliably Democrat strongholds. The college game, on the other hand, can put candidates in front of a broad-cross section of Americans.<\/p>\n
Trump could reasonably expect a friendly crowd in Tuscaloosa on Saturday \u2014 he won the state by more than 25 points in 2020 \u2014 but Democrats still hoped to elbow their way into the spotlight.<\/p>\n
The Harris campaign unveiled a new TV ad ahead of Trump\u2019s appearance at the game highlighting his unwillingness to commit to a second presidential debate. \u201cWinners never back down from a challenge,\u201d the narrator says. \u201cChampions know it\u2019s anytime, anyplace. But losers, they whine and waffle and take their ball home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The football day had begun very early in Tuscaloosa Saturday, with ESPN\u2019s college football staple \u201cGameDay\u201d show on hand for a program beginning at 8 a.m. Central time, during which one sign featured a photo of Trump and predicted of Alabama, \u201cThey\u2019re Eating The Dawgs,\u201d a reference to Georgia\u2019s nickname and a Trump fabrication during the presidential debate of Sept. 10. Some fans wore stickers with the same slogan.<\/p>\n
The masses of tailgates included one from Alabama\u2019s College Democrats, who had released a statement titled, \u201cDonald Trump is not Welcome Here,\u201d which expressed \u201cour vocal distaste\u201d for \u201chis dangerous rhetoric and promises, and his decision to try to turn this pivotal matchup into a glorified political rally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has at times wanted to attend fraternity tailgates or outdoor events before football games, but his team has usually scuttled that idea.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s aides are worried about security risks, especially if he walks through public parts of the stadium, as he occasionally has in the past and did again on Saturday, tossing out boxes of chicken tenders to fans. The recent attempts on Trump\u2019s life have only heightened those concerns.<\/p>\n
At the game, the Secret Service boosted its protection around Trump to levels that one aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss security arrangements, said they had never seen before.<\/p>\n
By the time the former president appeared on the giant video screens at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday evening, Alabama had surged to a brisk and breathtaking 28-0 early lead over Georgia, sending the home fans into a joyous frenzy.<\/p>\n
The bedlam continued when Trump, introduced on the public address as \u201cthe 45th president of the United States,\u201d received strong, steady cheers as he waved from behind a window inside a suite. Chants followed: \u201cUSA! USA!\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has enjoyed going to football games at SEC stadiums where the crowds love him, but he usually leaves long before the game is over. During his presidency, for example, he left the national championship in Atlanta during the beginning of the third quarter. He follows the NFL more closely than college football, a person who has talked sports with him said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail a private conversation.<\/p>\n
Trump \u201cisn\u2019t exactly campaigning at a football game for undecided voters,\u201d one Trump adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren\u2019t authorized to speak on the record, told The Washington Post. Trump tries to visit the stadiums where he thinks there will be the largest crowds of people who support him. \u201cIt\u2019s more about the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Trump occasionally finds the college game less than compelling, he\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n
Before wandering in to the Michigan-Minnesota game Saturday, Walz stopped by a rainy tailgate, where supporters sought shelter \u2014 and selfies \u2014 under a branded Harris-Walz tent.<\/p>\n
He grinned as he said yes to every selfie request, then paused to ask two children how they thought the game would go before answering his own question.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichigan\u2019s pretty solid,\u201d Walz told the children. \u201c \u2026 This is real. We got to win in the Big Ten.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kids stared blankly back at the governor. Even at a Big Ten tailgate, not everyone\u2019s a fan.<\/p>\n
Culpepper reported from Tuscaloosa. Wells reported from Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ANN ARBOR, Mich. \u2014 Wearing a navy blue Harris-Walz jacket and a camo baseball cap, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat in a private suite in Michigan Stadium on Saturday, cheering on a football game with 110,339 other fans and giving the campaign a high visibility perch on a busy September weekend. Eight hours later and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}