RotoGrinders compared 614 No. 13 player-seasons (242 athletes) with players wearing other numbers, 2016 to 2025. Remove a handful of stars and the NBA and NHL groups drop below average.
An index of 100 is the average for a player's position that season. Bars run on a 0 to 125 scale.
Stars removed: NFL, Mike Evans and Keenan Allen. NBA, James Harden and Paul George. NHL, Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Reinhart and Mathew Barzal.
Selections per eligible player-season. No. 13 players more than doubled the rate of other numbers in the NBA and NHL.
43 NBA games and 22 NHL games fell on Friday the 13th in the study period. Samples are small.
No NBA game played on Friday the 13th went to overtime.
Teams with the weaker pregame record won 55% of Friday the 13th games with a clear favorite.
Penalties per NHL game on Friday the 13th.
Personal fouls per appearance by No. 13 players on Friday the 13th (59 fouls in 21 appearances).
Source: RotoGrinders analysis of NFL (2016-2025), NBA and NHL (2016-17 to 2025-26) regular seasons. Data from Basketball-Reference, NHL official data sources, nflverse and Pro Bowl records, collected October 2026.
The player index divides output by the position-season average and multiplies by 100. Star exclusions are illustrative, not a statistical test. The research identifies associations, not cause and effect.
ROTOGRINDERS