Eight percent of Americans leave professional sporting events legally drunk, according to a study conducted by the U. Minnesota School of Public Health.

The study showed close to half of professional baseball and football game attendees consumed alcohol during the sporting events. Researchers funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave breathalyzer exams to 362 adults from 13 baseball and three football games.

Tailgaters were 14 times more likely to be legally drunk, and those with the highest blood alcohol content readings on average consumed about seven alcoholic drinks.

The study’s sample size was limited because of the unwillingness of fans to submit a BAC reading, Darin Erickson, the principal investigator of the study, said in a statement.

Erickson, a professor of epidemiology at the University, said if the results accurately represent fans at professional sporting events then on average, close to 5,000 attendees would be above the legal BAC limit of .08 at any given NFL game.

“That’s a lot of drunken individuals who could be involved in traffic accidents, assaults, vandalism, crime and other injuries,” Erickson said.