Objective: To review whether watching football increases the population cardiac event risk in New South Wales.
Design: Analysis of hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction, other cardiovascular disease, and other acute injuries at the time of two stressful sporting events in NSW in 2005: the Sydney Swans playing in the Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final, and the Socceroos' penalty shoot-out in their World Cup qualifying match against Uruguay.
Results: There were no increases in any of the studied admission events at the time of, or in the days immediately following, these football matches.
Conclusions: Australians appear to be resistant to acute stressors associated with watching sporting events, possibly due to higher rates of motivational deficiency disorder (MoDeD) than in European populations.