Is there really a home-field advantage in sports?
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THunter (88)
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Chart Summary of 44 Studies Examining this Question
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All labels are assigned by State of K. "Mixed" means that a study found some evidence to indicate that the answer to the question is "yes" and some evidence to indicate that the answer is "no". "Insuff. Evidence" means that a study found there was insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion regarding the question. "No Data" means that State of K wasn't able to identify the study's response to the question based on the information we had available to us. "Highly Regarded Source", as applied to journals, is a label assigned to the top 20 journals (as measured by the h-index) in various subcategories as classified and reported by Google Scholar. As applied to NGOs, the label is assigned to US NGOs ranked by the TTCSP Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports. The information contained in a source that is labelled "highly regarded" is not necessarily more accurate than information contained in a source without that label.
Literature Reviews
Although we recommend you consider all of the studies below, we believe the following studies are literature reviews, which survey and evaluate many studies on this question:- The home advantage in individual sports: An augmented review
- The Home Field Advantage in Athletics: A Meta-Analysis
- The Home Advantage In Sport Competitions: A Literature Review
Frequently Cited Studies
The following studies are frequently cited by the other studies in this list and may be thought of as key studies on this question.- Home advantage in soccer: A retrospective analysis
- Home advantage in the Winter Olympics (1908-1998)
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Summaries of Studies
Studies found that examine this question: 44
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Differences in home advantage between sports
Author: Marshall B. Jones
Published: 2018 in Psychology of Sport and Exercise (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.07.012
On Winning Probabilities, Weight Categories, and Home Advantage in Professional Judo
Author: Alex Krumer
Published: 2017 in Journal of Sports Economics
Answer to the list question: Yes
"Judo is a combat sport with seven different weight categories. In this\narticle, we examined data from 1,902 men's and 1,400 women's fights at\nthe eight most prestigious judo tournaments during the period 2010-2013.\nUsing a single fight as the unit of observation, we found that the\nprobability for the favorite to win against the underdog in the men's\nhalf-lightweight category is significantly lower than in most other\ncategories. Moreover, in fights in which only European and/or Asian\njudokas participate, we found that the men's half-lightweight category\nis significantly more balanced than all other men's categories. For\nwomen, there is no consistent evidence that any one weight category is\nmore balanced than any of the others.
Our results indicate that in\nchoosing the members of a national team, it is to some extent reasonable\nfor national coaches to select a lower ranked judoka in the men's\nhalflightweight category over a higher ranked judoka in several other\nweight categories. We also found that the home advantage increases the\nprobability of winning a single fight for both genders. This result\nimplies that it might be worthwhile for national judo associations to\nbid to host international tournaments in order to improve the world\nrankings of their domestic judokas."
Our results indicate that in\nchoosing the members of a national team, it is to some extent reasonable\nfor national coaches to select a lower ranked judoka in the men's\nhalflightweight category over a higher ranked judoka in several other\nweight categories. We also found that the home advantage increases the\nprobability of winning a single fight for both genders. This result\nimplies that it might be worthwhile for national judo associations to\nbid to host international tournaments in order to improve the world\nrankings of their domestic judokas."
The Effect of Home Advantage on International-level Rugby Union Performance
Authors: Peter Olsen, Nicholas KImber, Mike Hamlin et al
Published: 2016 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1249/01.mss.0000488126.08190.37
AN ANALYSIS OF HOME ADVANTAGE IN IRANIAN FOOTBALL SUPER LEAGUE
Authors: Rasool Hemayat TALAB, Amir Hossein MEHRSAFAR
Published: 2016 in International Journal of Sports Exercise and Training Science
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.18826/useeabd.279752
Home advantage in combat sports during the Olympic Games
Authors: Emerson Franchini, Monica Yuri Takito
Published: 2016 in Sport Sciences for Health
Answer to the list question: Yes
"Purpose: To determine if there is a home advantage effect in combat sports (boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling) in the Olympic Games during the period between 1996 and 2012.
Methods: This study analyzed the performance of United States of America, Australia, Greece, China and Great-Britain in this period, considering only boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling. Relative frequency was calculated considering number of medals won by each country as a percentage of the total number of medals disputed in these sports. A multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regression was used to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) for the association of factor of interest as hosting country and country. In multilevel analyses, total number of medals disputed in each sport was included as the exposure in the models. As athletes in each sport changed over time, they were included as random parameters. All significance tests were 2-tailed, and p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: There was a home advantage effect for total number of medals [IRR = 1.97 (1.38-2.80); p < 0.001], gold [IRR = 2.62 (1.45-4.73), p = 0.001] and silver medals [IRR = 2.13 (1.09-4.17); p = 0.027] adjusted for the total number of medals disputed in each situation, country and sport. However, there was no effect for bronze medals [IRR = 1.40 (0.78-2.51); p = 0.267].
Conclusion: This study provided evidence for the home advantage effect in combat sports during the Olympic Games disputed between 1996 and 2012 for total number of medals, gold and silver medals, doubling the quantity won when competing at home. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR"
Methods: This study analyzed the performance of United States of America, Australia, Greece, China and Great-Britain in this period, considering only boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling. Relative frequency was calculated considering number of medals won by each country as a percentage of the total number of medals disputed in these sports. A multilevel mixed-effects Poisson regression was used to estimate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) for the association of factor of interest as hosting country and country. In multilevel analyses, total number of medals disputed in each sport was included as the exposure in the models. As athletes in each sport changed over time, they were included as random parameters. All significance tests were 2-tailed, and p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: There was a home advantage effect for total number of medals [IRR = 1.97 (1.38-2.80); p < 0.001], gold [IRR = 2.62 (1.45-4.73), p = 0.001] and silver medals [IRR = 2.13 (1.09-4.17); p = 0.027] adjusted for the total number of medals disputed in each situation, country and sport. However, there was no effect for bronze medals [IRR = 1.40 (0.78-2.51); p = 0.267].
Conclusion: This study provided evidence for the home advantage effect in combat sports during the Olympic Games disputed between 1996 and 2012 for total number of medals, gold and silver medals, doubling the quantity won when competing at home. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR"
New Insights Involving the Home Team Advantage
Authors: Tim B. Swartz, Adriano Arce
Published: 2014 in International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching
Answer to the list question: Yes
"Although the home team advantage is known to exist in many sports, there are nuances of the advantage that are less well understood. In this paper, we investigate various aspects of the home team advantage including changes in the advantage over time, the relationship of the advantage to the overall scoring rate and differential advantages within leagues. The analysis is mainly based on descriptive statistics and is confined to the home team advantage pertaining to the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association."
Inconsistencies of the Evaluation of Home Advantage in Sports Competitions Under the Three Points Per Victory System
Authors: Miguel Saavedra García, Óscar Gutiérrez Aguilar, Juan J. Fernández Romero
Published: 2014 in Journal of Human Kinetics
"A recent letter sent to the Journal of Human Kinetics' editor (Gómez & Pollard, 2014) warned about a supposed methodology error in the calculation of home advantage in football leagues used in Saavedra et al. (2013) and took the liberty of modifying the research's data. The aim of this letter is to demonstrate that the evaluation system of the home advantage proposed by Pollard (1986) contains serious inconsistencies when applied to competitions which give three points for a win and one point for a draw, as it is the case of the UEFA football leagues in the 21th century ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR"
Home advantage in judo: A study of the world ranking list
Authors: Bianca Miarka, Monica Yuri Takito, Emerson Franchini et al
Published: 2013 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
"In 2009, the International Judo Federation established a ranking system (RS) to classify athletes and to distribute the competitor quotas of the Olympic Games. However, the RS does not consider the home advantage. This issue has not been studied in judo, and its implications for the RS have not been determined.
The objective was to verify the home advantage in judo in terms of winning a medal or the number of matches won. Therefore, 25 competitions that computed points for the RS in 2009 were analysed. Logistic regression analysis and the Poisson generalised linear model were used for the analyses, which included the relative quality of the athletes.
The sample was composed only of athletes who had competed both at home and away. The odds ratio for winning medals was higher for athletes who competed at home for both males and females. The association between the number of matches won and competing at home was significant only for the male athletes.
The home advantage was observed in the competitions that used the judo RS. Thus, it is likely that athletes from countries that host competitions using the RS have an advantage in terms of obtaining their Olympic classification."
The objective was to verify the home advantage in judo in terms of winning a medal or the number of matches won. Therefore, 25 competitions that computed points for the RS in 2009 were analysed. Logistic regression analysis and the Poisson generalised linear model were used for the analyses, which included the relative quality of the athletes.
The sample was composed only of athletes who had competed both at home and away. The odds ratio for winning medals was higher for athletes who competed at home for both males and females. The association between the number of matches won and competing at home was significant only for the male athletes.
The home advantage was observed in the competitions that used the judo RS. Thus, it is likely that athletes from countries that host competitions using the RS have an advantage in terms of obtaining their Olympic classification."
Home Advantage and Sports Performance: Evidence, Causes and Psychological Implications
Authors: Alejandro Legaz Arrese, Diego Moliner Urdiales, Diego Munguía Izquierdo
Published: 2013 in Universitas Psychologica
Answer to the list question: Yes
"Home advantage in competitive sports is well documented despite some contradictory results. Previous studies have identified 5 main causes of home advantage in competitive sports: crowd, familiarity, travels, rules and territoriality. Moreover, several studies have proposed the influence of these factors over psychological and behavioral states in athletes, coaches and referees.
The present review summarizes the available scientific evidences about home advantage in sport and tries to identify the environmental and psychological causes of this phenomenon."
The present review summarizes the available scientific evidences about home advantage in sport and tries to identify the environmental and psychological causes of this phenomenon."
There's no place like home: home court advantage in North American sports leagues
Authors: John Berdell, James Ciecka, Anthony C. Krautmann
Published: 2013 in International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing
Answer to the list question: Yes
"We use a measure of home team advantage (HTA) that allows us to examine its relative strength across dissimilar sports leagues. Our metric confirms the widely reported existence of HTA. We control for relative team strength, thereby allowing comparisons across leagues. We find the strongest HTA in the National Basketball Association, followed by the National Football League and Major League Baseball in decreasing order. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd."
The home advantage in individual sports: An augmented review
Author: Marshall B. Jones
Published: 2013 in Psychology of Sport and Exercise (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Mixed Results
Literature Review
"Objectives: Is the home advantage in individual sports comparable in magnitude and consistency to that in team sports? If not, is it nevertheless a major factor? The present paper reviews the literature to date with respect to these questions and augments it with original analyses where appropriate.
Design: The review is framed and dominated by a design consideration, namely, that all major team sports play balanced home-and-away schedules, whereas individual sports rarely, if ever, do. As a result, it is necessary to take player quality into account in assessing home advantage in an individual sport. Method/approach: The paper begins with three individual sports (tennis, golf, and boxing) in which home advantage has been studied using available controls for player quality. It moves on to individual and team sports in the Olympics, where home advantage has also been studied with credible controls on player (country) quality. Studies are then reviewed in which player quality has not been controlled. Finally, data are presented for two individual efforts embedded in team sports (free throws in basketball and shootouts in ice hockey).
Results: Subjectively evaluated sports such as diving, gymnastics, or figure skating usually show sizable and significant home advantages. Otherwise, occasional findings have been reported but they are not consistent within a sport, are generally weak, and often statistically unreliable.
Conclusions: Except for subjectively evaluated sports, home advantage is not a major factor in individual sports, much less does it play a role in individual sports comparable to its role in team sports. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd."
Design: The review is framed and dominated by a design consideration, namely, that all major team sports play balanced home-and-away schedules, whereas individual sports rarely, if ever, do. As a result, it is necessary to take player quality into account in assessing home advantage in an individual sport. Method/approach: The paper begins with three individual sports (tennis, golf, and boxing) in which home advantage has been studied using available controls for player quality. It moves on to individual and team sports in the Olympics, where home advantage has also been studied with credible controls on player (country) quality. Studies are then reviewed in which player quality has not been controlled. Finally, data are presented for two individual efforts embedded in team sports (free throws in basketball and shootouts in ice hockey).
Results: Subjectively evaluated sports such as diving, gymnastics, or figure skating usually show sizable and significant home advantages. Otherwise, occasional findings have been reported but they are not consistent within a sport, are generally weak, and often statistically unreliable.
Conclusions: Except for subjectively evaluated sports, home advantage is not a major factor in individual sports, much less does it play a role in individual sports comparable to its role in team sports. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd."
The Effect of Home Advantage, Momentum, and Fighting on Winning in the National Hockey League
Authors: Benjamin Leard, Joanne M. Doyle
Published: 2011 in Journal of Sports Economics
Answer to the list question: Yes
"Using game-level data, the authors estimate models of team success and\ntest for the effect of three specific factors on game outcomes in\nprofessional ice hockey. First, they estimate the home ice advantage and\nfind that much of it can be attributed to rules advantages for the home\nteam. Second, contrary to previous studies on momentum, the authors find\nsome evidence that game-to-game momentum has a positive effect on\nwinning.
Finally, the authors test the impact of fighting on the\nlikelihood of winning and find that winning fights does not lead to\nwinning games."
Finally, the authors test the impact of fighting on the\nlikelihood of winning and find that winning fights does not lead to\nwinning games."
Home advantage in professional tennis
Author: Ruud H. Koning
Published: 2011 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Mixed Results
"Home advantage is a pervasive phenomenon in sport. It has been established in team sports such as basketball, baseball, American football, and European soccer. Attention to home advantage in individual sports has so far been limited. The aim of this study was to examine home advantage in professional tennis. Match-level data are used to measure home advantage. The test used is based on logit models, and consistent specification is addressed explicitly. Depending on the interpretation of home advantage, restrictions on the specification of the model need to be imposed. We find that although significant home advantage exists for men, the performance of women tennis players appears to be unaffected by home advantage."
Home Advantage in American College Football Games: A Multilevel Modelling Approach
Authors: Winnie Wang, Ron Johnston, Kelvyn Jones
Published: 2011 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2202/1559-0410.1328
The Intra-Match Home Advantage in Australian Rules Football
Authors: Richard Ryall, Anthony Bedford
Published: 2011 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2202/1559-0410.1314
The Home Field Advantage in Athletics: A Meta-Analysis
Author: Jeremy P. Jamieson
Published: 2010 in Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Answer to the list question: Yes
Literature Review
"This meta-analysis examined the home-field advantage in athletics, with an emphasis on potential moderators. The goal of this research was to quantify the probability of a home victory, thus only studies that included win–loss data were included in the meta-analysis. A significant advantage for home teams was observed across all conditions ( Mπ= .604); and time era, season length, game type, and sport moderated the effect. Furthermore, it was found that season length mediated the effect of sport such that differences between sports could be attributed to some sports having longer seasons than other sports. This research has implications for athletes, fans, and the media alike."
Home advantage in the Commonwealth Games
Authors: GM Ramchandani, DJ Wilson
Published: 2010 in South African Journal of Sports Medicine
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.17159/2078-516x/2010/v22i1a319
Home Advantage in Three National Netball Competitions: Australia (1997-2007), New Zealand (1998-2007) and England (2005/06-2008/09)
Authors: Megan J Pledger, R. Hugh Morton
Published: 2010 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
Answer to the list question: Mixed Results
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2202/1559-0410.1163
Estimating Quality in Home Advantage and Competitive Balance in the Portuguese Football League
Author: António Cardoso Marques
Published: 2009 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
Answer to the list question: Yes
"The issue of competitive balance is not normally considered in the study of home advantage. This paper focuses on home advantage, assessing and comparing it between seasons. The strength of the teams is estimated and linked with competitive balance. The results support that, in both the eighties and early nineties, the home advantage is more visible. After that, it tends to decrease. Meanwhile, competitive balance increases until the nineties and after that, the trend becomes unclear. The changes in the structure of the championship and the reward point system have affected the Portuguese league."
Home advantage and player nationality in international club football
Author: Damian R. Poulter
Published: 2009 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Mixed Results
"The home advantage effect was investigated at a team and player level in Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League football using in-depth performance and disciplinary variables. Performance analysis revealed that the home team scored more goals, had more shots on and off target, had a greater share of possession, and won more corners than the away team. There was an opposite trend for disciplinary variables, with the home team committing less fouls than the away team, and receiving less yellow and red cards.
There were home advantage effects at player level for goals, total shots, shots on target, assists, and yellow cards, as found in the team analysis. In addition, foreign players demonstrated a home advantage effect for goals scored, whereas domestic players scored an equivalent number of goals at home and away venues. Results are discussed in relation to the home advantage literature and wider implications for the sport."
There were home advantage effects at player level for goals, total shots, shots on target, assists, and yellow cards, as found in the team analysis. In addition, foreign players demonstrated a home advantage effect for goals scored, whereas domestic players scored an equivalent number of goals at home and away venues. Results are discussed in relation to the home advantage literature and wider implications for the sport."
A Note on Team-Specific Home Advantage in the NBA
Author: Marshall B Jones
Published: 2008 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2202/1559-0410.1128
An Analysis of the Home-Field Advantage in Major League Baseball Using Logit Models: Evidence from the 2004 and 2005 Seasons
Authors: William Levernier, Anthony G. Barilla
Published: 2007 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2202/1559-0410.1045
Travel fatigue and home ground advantage in South African Super 12 rugby teams
Authors: M Du Preez, MI Lambert
Published: 2007 in South African Journal of Sports Medicine
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.17159/2078-516x/2007/v19i1a271
Home Advantage in the NBA as a Game-Long Process
Author: Marshall B Jones
Published: 2007 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
"The quantitative analysis of sports is a growing branch of science and, in many ways one that has developed through non-academic and non-traditionally peer-reviewed work. The aim of this paper is to bring to a peer-reviewed journal the generally accepted basics of the analysis of basketball, thereby providing a common starting point for future research in basketball. The possession concept, in particular the concept of equal possessions for opponents in a game, is central to basketball analysis. Estimates of possessions have existed for approximately two decades, but the various formulas have sometimes created confusion. We hope that by showing how most previous formulas are special cases of our more general formulation, we shed light on the relationship between possessions and various statistics. Also, we hope that our new estimates can provide a common basis for future possession estimation. In addition to listing data sources for statistical research on basketball, we also discuss other concepts and methods, including offensive and defensive ratings, plays, per-minute statistics, pace adjustments, true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage, rebound rates, Four Factors, plus/minus statistics, counterpart statistics, linear weights metrics, individual possession usage, individual efficiency, Pythagorean method, and Bell Curve method. This list is not an exhaustive list of methodologies used in the field, but we believe that they provide a set of tools that fit within the possession framework and form the basis of common conversations on statistical research in basketball. A Starting Point for Analyzing Basketball Statistics. Available from: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/4985986_A_Starting_Point_for_Analyzing_Basketball_Statistics [accessed Jun 4, 2015]."
There's No Place Like Home: Estimating Intra-Conference Home Field Advantage in College Football Using a Bayesian Piecewise Linear Model
Author: Byron J Gajewski
Published: 2006 in Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2202/1559-0410.1009
Home advantage in southern hemisphere rugby union: Nationaland international
Author: Hugh Morton R
Published: 2006 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
"This study evaluates home advantages both for national (Super 12) and international (Tri-nations) rugby union teams from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, over the five-year period 2000-2004 using linear modelling. These home advantages are examined for statistical and practical significance, for variability between teams, for stability over time and for inter-correlation. These data reveal that the overall home advantage in elite rugby union has a mean of +6.7 points, and that this changes little from year to year. Closer scrutiny nevertheless reveals a high degree of variability. Different teams can and do have different home advantages, which ranges from a low of -0.7 to a high of +28.3 points in any one year. Furthermore, some team home advantages change up or down from one year to the next, by as much as -36.5 to +31.4 points at the extremes. There is no evidence that the stronger teams have the higher home advantages, or that a high home advantage leads to a superior finishing position in the competition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)"
Worldwide regional variations in home advantage in association football
Author: Richard Pollard
Published: 2006 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
"Home advantage plays an important part in determining the result of a game of football. Its existence and magnitude is well documented in England, but its causes are still not completely understood. In this study, reliable estimates of home advantage are calculated for the domestic leagues of all countries of Europe and South America, as well as a selection of countries from other continents.
The results of all games during the last six seasons are used for each of these 72 countries. In Europe, home advantage in the Balkan countries, especially Bosnia and Albania, is much higher than average. It is generally lower than average in northern Europe, from the Baltic republics, through Scandinavia to the British Isles.
In South America, home advantage is high in the Andean countries and lower elsewhere, especially in Uruguay. Home advantage is not unusually high or low in any of the countries from other continents. A multiple regression model for the 51 European countries, which included variables for geographical location, crowd effects and travel, accounted for 76.7% of the variability in home advantage. The large geographical variations can be interpreted in terms of territoriality being a contributing factor to home advantage."
The results of all games during the last six seasons are used for each of these 72 countries. In Europe, home advantage in the Balkan countries, especially Bosnia and Albania, is much higher than average. It is generally lower than average in northern Europe, from the Baltic republics, through Scandinavia to the British Isles.
In South America, home advantage is high in the Andean countries and lower elsewhere, especially in Uruguay. Home advantage is not unusually high or low in any of the countries from other continents. A multiple regression model for the 51 European countries, which included variables for geographical location, crowd effects and travel, accounted for 76.7% of the variability in home advantage. The large geographical variations can be interpreted in terms of territoriality being a contributing factor to home advantage."
Home-Field Effect and Team Performance
Authors: Fiona Carmichael, Dennis Thomas
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Economics
"This article discusses the home-field effect in professional team sports and provides further evidence of home advantage in association football as played in the English Premier League. Utilizing play data it employs match-based production function to investigate the home-field effect on within-match performance by home and away teams."
An investigation of home advantage and other factors affecting outcomes in English one-day cricket matches
Authors: Bruce Morley, Dennis Thomas
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
"We examined the factors affecting the outcome of cricket matches played in the English one-day county cricket league. In particular, we focused on the home-field effect and the importance of winning the pre-match toss of a coin to determine a team's strategic decision to bat first or second. A home-field effect appeared to be confirmed in that home teams won 57% of all matches with a win/loss result. A logistical regression model was used, with the outcome variable defined in terms of a home team win/loss. We found that while winning the toss is an important aspect of a one-day cricket match, other factors tend to dominate in determining the result, especially team quality and match importance for the home and away teams in the overall league context. Our results also indicate, not surprisingly given the nature of cricket attendance and spectating, that the crowd effect is largely insignificant. The results of our study do not support any rule changes requiring the abandonment of the coin toss to determine batting order."
Home advantage in the Australian football league
Author: Stephen R Clarke
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
"The results of this study on home advantage in Australian rules football demonstrate that individual clubs have different home advantages. Traditional measures of home advantage as applied to whole competitions such as percentage of games won, and alternative measures such as average margin of victory for the home team, are calculated. Problems with these measures are discussed. Individual home advantages for each team are obtained using a linear model fitted to individual match margins; the resultant home advantages are analysed, and variations and possible causes or groupings of home advantage are proposed. It is shown that some models allowing different home advantages for different clubs are a significant improvement over previous models assuming a common home advantage. The results show a strong isolation effect, with non-Victorian teams having large home advantages, and lend support to the conclusion that crowd effects and ground familiarity are a major determinant of home advantage."
Home advantage in speed skating: Evidence from individual data
Author: Ruud H Koning
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
"Home advantage is a well-documented phenomenon in many sports. Home advantage has been shown to exist for team sports (soccer, hockey, football, baseball, basketball) and for countries organizing sports tournaments like the Olympics and World Cup Soccer. There is also some evidence for home advantage in some individual sports, but there is a much more limited literature. This paper addresses the issue of home advantage in speed skating. From a methodological point of view, it is difficult to identify home advantage, because skaters vary in their abilities and the conditions of tournaments vary. There is a small but significant home advantage using a generalized linear mixed model, with random effects for skaters and fixed effects for skating rinks and seasons. Even though the home advantage effect exists, it is very small when compared to variation in skating times due to differences of rinks and individual abilities."
The home advantage in sport competitions: Courneya and Carron's (1992) conceptual framework a decade later
Authors: Albert V Carron, Todd M Loughhead, Steven R Bray
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
"This paper had three aims. The first was to review research carried out on the home advantage from 1992 to the present. The second was to examine the extent to which a Conceptual Framework proposed by Courneya and Carron (1992) was/is viable as a tool to highlight and organise an understanding of the home advantage.
The final aim was to provide suggestions for future research."
The final aim was to provide suggestions for future research."
The extent and causes of home advantage: Some recent insights
Authors: Alan Nevill, Nigel Balmer, Sandy Wolfson
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410500074375
Modelling home advantage in the Summer Olympic Games
Authors: NJ BALMER, AM NEVILL, AM WILLIAMS
Published: 2003 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Mixed Results
"Home advantage in team games is well proven and the influence of the crowd upon officials' decisions has been identified as a plausible cause. The aim of this study was to assess the significance of home advantage for five event groups selected from the Summer Olympic Games between 1896 and 1996, and put home advantage in team games in context with other sports. The five event groups were athletics and weightlifting (predominantly objectively judged), boxing and gymnastics (predominantly subjectively judged) and team games (involving subjective decisions).
The proportion of points won was analysed as a binomial response variable using generalized linear interactive modelling. Preliminary exploration of the data highlighted the need to control for the proportion of competitors entered and to split the analysis pre- and post-war. Highly significant home advantage was found in event groups that were either subjectively judged or rely on subjective decisions.
In contrast, little or no home advantage (and even away advantage) was observed for the two objectively judged groups. Officiating system was vital to both the existence and extent of home advantage. Our findings suggest that crowd noise has a greater influence upon officials' decisions than players' performances, as events with greater officiating input enjoyed significantly greater home advantage."
The proportion of points won was analysed as a binomial response variable using generalized linear interactive modelling. Preliminary exploration of the data highlighted the need to control for the proportion of competitors entered and to split the analysis pre- and post-war. Highly significant home advantage was found in event groups that were either subjectively judged or rely on subjective decisions.
In contrast, little or no home advantage (and even away advantage) was observed for the two objectively judged groups. Officiating system was vital to both the existence and extent of home advantage. Our findings suggest that crowd noise has a greater influence upon officials' decisions than players' performances, as events with greater officiating input enjoyed significantly greater home advantage."
Home advantage in the Winter Olympics (1908-1998)
Authors: Nigel J. Balmer, Alan M. Nevill, A. Mark Williams
Published: 2001 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: Yes
"We obtained indices of home advantage, based on the medals won by competing nations, for each event held at the Winter Olympics from 1908 to 1998. These indices were designed to assess home advantage while controlling for nation strength, changes in the number of medals on offer and the performance of 'non-hosting' nations. Some evidence of home advantage was found in figure skating, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, alpine skiing and short track speed skating.
In contrast, little or no home advantage was observed in ice hockey, Nordic combined, Nordic skiing, bobsled, luge, biathlon or speed skating. When all events were combined, a significant home advantage was observed (P = 0.029), although no significant differences in the extent of home advantage were found between events (P > 0.05). When events were grouped according to whether they were subjectively assessed by judges, significantly greater home advantage was observed in the subjectively assessed events (P = 0.037). This was a reflection of better home performances, suggesting that judges were scoring home competitors disproportionately higher than away competitors. Familiarity with local conditions was shown to have some effect, particularly in alpine skiing, although the bobsled and luge showed little or no advantage over other events.
Regression analysis showed that the number of time zones and direction of travel produced no discernible trends or differences in performance."
In contrast, little or no home advantage was observed in ice hockey, Nordic combined, Nordic skiing, bobsled, luge, biathlon or speed skating. When all events were combined, a significant home advantage was observed (P = 0.029), although no significant differences in the extent of home advantage were found between events (P > 0.05). When events were grouped according to whether they were subjectively assessed by judges, significantly greater home advantage was observed in the subjectively assessed events (P = 0.037). This was a reflection of better home performances, suggesting that judges were scoring home competitors disproportionately higher than away competitors. Familiarity with local conditions was shown to have some effect, particularly in alpine skiing, although the bobsled and luge showed little or no advantage over other events.
Regression analysis showed that the number of time zones and direction of travel produced no discernible trends or differences in performance."
Identifying home advantage in international tennis and golf tournaments
Authors: Andrew Bardsley, Helen Calvert, Stephen Jones et al
Published: 1997 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Answer to the list question: No
"A regression analysis of competitors' tournament results in relation to their world rankings was proposed to identify the effect of home advantage in international 'grand-slam' tennis and 'major' golf tournaments. The results provided little evidence of home advantage in either the grand-slam tennis or the golf tournaments held in 1993. The only possible evidence of home advantage was found in the Wimbledon tennis and the US Open golf championships.
Even these findings can be explained, at least partially, by (1) the availability of information concerning the low world rankings of the British tennis players competing at Wimbledon, and (2) selective entry, allowing only the world's top-ranked foreign golfers into the US open golf tournament. In both cases, the lower ranking home competitors have a greater opportunity to perform above their anticipated world rankings. Therefore, provided entry into tennis and golf tournaments is truly 'open' to both the host nation's representatives and foreign competitors alike, home advantage does not appear to be a major factor influencing the competitors' performance in such competitions.
These findings may be explained by the relatively objective nature of the scoring systems used in tennis and golf, unlike the subjective influence of refereeing decisions on the results of team-games such as soccer."
Even these findings can be explained, at least partially, by (1) the availability of information concerning the low world rankings of the British tennis players competing at Wimbledon, and (2) selective entry, allowing only the world's top-ranked foreign golfers into the US open golf tournament. In both cases, the lower ranking home competitors have a greater opportunity to perform above their anticipated world rankings. Therefore, provided entry into tennis and golf tournaments is truly 'open' to both the host nation's representatives and foreign competitors alike, home advantage does not appear to be a major factor influencing the competitors' performance in such competitions.
These findings may be explained by the relatively objective nature of the scoring systems used in tennis and golf, unlike the subjective influence of refereeing decisions on the results of team-games such as soccer."
Home Ground Advantage of Individual Clubs in English Soccer
Authors: Stephen R. Clarke, John M. Norman
Published: 1995 in The Statistician
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2307/2348899
The Home Advantage in Individual Sports
Author: Francis T. McAndrew
Published: 1993 in The Journal of Social Psychology
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1993.9712160
HOME ADVANTAGE: DOES IT EXIST IN INDIVIDUAL SPORTS
Author: WILLIAM F. GAYTON
Published: 1992 in Perceptual and Motor Skills
Answer to the list question: Yes
"This study examined whether the home advantage exists in individual sports. The percentage of 792 wrestling matches won at home and away were compared for a high school wrestling team from 1980-1984. A significant home advantage was found: 61% vs 54%."
The Home Advantage In Sport Competitions: A Literature Review
Authors: Kerry S. Courneya, Albert V. Carron
Published: 1992 in Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
Literature Review
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.14.1.13
Home Advantage: Does it Exist in Individual Sports
Authors: William F. Gayton, Guy Langevin
Published: 1992 in Perceptual and Motor Skills
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1992.74.3.706
Home Advantage: Does it Exist in Women's Sports
Authors: William F. Gayton, Sharon A. Mutrie, Joseph F. Hearns
Published: 1987 in Perceptual and Motor Skills
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1987.65.2.653
Home advantage in soccer: A retrospective analysis
Author: Richard Pollard
Published: 1986 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
"See, stats, and: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/20272586 Home : A analysis Article Impact : 2. 25: 10.1080/ 02640418608732122: PubMed CITATIONS 166 READS 679 1 : Richard California , San 52 , 948 SEE Available : Richard Retrieved : 03"
Local Sports Teams and Celebration of Community: A Comparative Analysis of the Home Advantage
Author: Mark S. Mizruchi
Published: 1985 in The Sociological Quarterly
Answer to the list question: Yes
"In major sports events between representatives of different cities, the home team has been known to have a major advantage over the visiting team. Drawing on Durkheim, Schwartz and Barsky (1977) have demonstrated that the social support of the audience is the main determinant of this advantage. In their conclusion, Schwartz and Barsky characterize sports events as a "celebration of local community" (p.
658). This article tests the celebration of community thesis by comparing the relative home advantage among 23 professional basketball teams during the 1981-82 season. Three broad variables are hypothesized to affect a team's home court advantage: (1) provincialism and stability of the city; (2) uniqueness of the home arena; and (3) the tradition of the team.
Support is found for all three variables. Not only is there a home advantage in organized sports, but the magnitude of the advantage is itself bound by the social context within which the team performs."
658). This article tests the celebration of community thesis by comparing the relative home advantage among 23 professional basketball teams during the 1981-82 season. Three broad variables are hypothesized to affect a team's home court advantage: (1) provincialism and stability of the city; (2) uniqueness of the home arena; and (3) the tradition of the team.
Support is found for all three variables. Not only is there a home advantage in organized sports, but the magnitude of the advantage is itself bound by the social context within which the team performs."
Recommended Studies to Consider Adding to List
Sorted by: Relevance
Recommendations are generated in two ways:
- Studies recommended by State of K algorithms: 18
- Studies recommended by other members: 0
Vote to add to the list any of the studies recommended below if you think it examines the question.
(We use this feedback to improve the study list).
The Home Advantage
Authors: Barry Schwartz, Stephen F. Barsky
Published: 1977 in Social Forces (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2307/2577461
Testosterone, territoriality, and the ‘home advantage’
Authors: Nick Neave, Sandy Wolfson
Published: 2003 in Physiology & Behavior
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(02)00969-1
The Effect of an Artificial Pitch Surface on Home Team Performance in Football (Soccer)
Authors: V. Barnett, S. Hilditch
Published: 1993 in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2307/2982859
Evidence of a reduced home advantage when a team moves to a new stadium
Author: Richard Pollard
Published: 2002 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
"Home advantage is well documented for professional baseball, basketball and ice hockey in North America. One of the possible causes of this advantage is familiarity with the local playing facility. This was investigated and quantified in an analysis of 37 teams moving to new stadiums, but in the same city, from 1987 to 2001. Home advantage during the first season in a new stadium after the move was significantly less than home advantage in the final season in the old stadium (P= 0.011). The reduction was evident in all three sports. Possible confounding factors, such as crowd size and crowd density, were considered but did not appear to have an effect. It is estimated that about 24% of the advantage of playing at home maybe lost when a team relocates to a new facility."
Modelling performance at international tennis and golf tournaments: is there a home advantage?
Authors: Roger L. Holder, Alan M. Nevill
Published: 1997 in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series D (The Statistician)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9884.00109
Pre-competition hormonal and psychological levels of elite hockey players: Relationship to the ‘home advantage’
Authors: C MUIR, J BELANGER, S PUTNAM et al
Published: 2006 in Physiology & Behavior
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.07.011
Long-term trends in home advantage in professional team sports in North America and England (1876 – 2003)
Authors: R Pollard, G Pollard
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410400021559
Predictions and home advantage for Australian rules football
Authors: Raymond Stefani, Stephen Clarke
Published: 1992 in Journal of Applied Statistics
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02664769200000021
An Analysis of Home and Away Game Performance of Male College Basketball Teams
Author: Philip E. Varca
Published: 1980 in Journal of Sport Psychology
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1123/jsp.2.3.245
Do judges enhance home advantage in European championship boxing?
Authors: NJ Balmer, AM Nevill, AM Lane
Published: 2005 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
"There have been many examples of contentious points decisions in boxing. Professional boxing is scored subjectively by judges and referees scoring each round of the contest. We assessed whether the probability of a home win (and therefore home advantage) increased when bouts were decided by points decisions rather than knockouts. Overall, we found that bouts ending in points decisions had a significantly higher proportion of home wins than those decided by a knockout, though this effect varied across time, and controlling for relative quality of boxers was only effective when using more recent data. Focusing on these data, again the probability of a home win was higher with a points decision and this effect was consistent as “relative quality” varied. For equally matched boxers (“relative quality” = 0), expected probability of a home win was 0.57 for knockouts, 0.66 for technical knockouts and 0.74 for points decisions. The results of the present study lend general support to the notion that home advant..."
Spectator Booing and the Home Advantage: A Study of Social Influence in the Basketball Arena
Author: Donald L. Greer
Published: 1983 in Social Psychology Quarterly
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2307/3033796
The influence of crowd noise and experience upon refereeing decisions in football
Authors: A.M Nevill, N.J Balmer, A Mark Williams
Published: 2002 in Psychology of Sport and Exercise (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1469-0292(01)00033-4
The Home Advantage in Collegiate Basketball
Authors: Eldon E. Snyder, Dean A. Purdy
Published: 1985 in Sociology of Sport Journal
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2.4.352
The influence of game location on athletes' psychological states
Authors: Peter C. Terry, Nicholas Walrond, Albert V. Carron
Published: 1998 in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1440-2440(98)80006-6
The Effect of the Audience on the Home Advantage
Author: Simo Salminen
Published: 1993 in Perceptual and Motor Skills
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1993.76.3c.1123
Favoritism Under Social Pressure
Authors: Luis Garicano, Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, Canice Prendergast
Published: 2005 in Review of Economics and Statistics (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1162/0034653053970267
Strategic decisions of ice hockey coaches as a function of game location
Authors: PAUL W. DENNIS, ALBERT V. CARRON
Published: 1999 in Journal of Sports Sciences (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1080/026404199365984
Favoritism of agents – The case of referees' home bias
Authors: Matthias Sutter, Martin G Kocher
Published: 2004 in Journal of Economic Psychology (Highly Regarded Source)
Recommended by: State of K
We aren't able to display the abstract here, but you can view it at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-4870(03)00013-8