Home Field Advantage Research

Shaw, D. (2012). Crowd and the Home Advantage. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://believeperform.com/education/crowd-and-the-home-advantage/

The authors defined “Home Field Advantage” as the occurrence in which the team that is hosting the sporting event is wins the contest over fifty percent of the time. Evidence resulting from prior research by Schwartz and Barksy in 1977 shows that indoor sporting events such as basketball and ice hockey hold a greater home field advantage than outdoor sporting events like football and baseball. Evidence found by Agnew and Carron shows that the density of the crowd has an effect as a predictor for the outcome of the game. In reference to soccer the crowd had an effect on officiating, with more

Allen of London South Bank University and Marc V. Jones of Staffordshire University have found that there is scientific support for “home field advantage”. Two models for home field advantage were explored: the territorial model and the standard model. When there is a larger crowd at a sporting event that display encouraging behavior such as cheering and chanting and linked with the success of that team. The standard model studied by Allen and Jones is more focused on the psychological states of competitors, coaches, and officials and how the game is impacted by their behaviors; effects of the larger crowd can have an impact on the standard model because they can promote certain behaviors by the players such as better performance because of

Carron came to the conclusion that home court advantage was any extra benefit that a team receives by playing at their home stadium or arena. Each team in the NBA plays 82 games in one regular season with a split of 41 home games and 41 games as the visiting team, thereby each team should win approximately 21 home games at minimum each year. Box scores were examined for every home game for the NBA 2008 season through the 2011 season for the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls garnering a total of 123 total games that were investigated. Through examination of their overall win/loss record it was found that the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls had above average winning records at home, but subpar records while being the visiting team. The Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks had winning records both at home and as the visiting team, but as the visiting team their record was better than their home record. The models based around this examination were based off game attendance and away win percentage, with the second model revolving around performance of the teams. By looking at the plus/minus statistic of each team throughout the year involved in the study, the Atlanta Hawks in 2008 outscored their opponents at home by 5.7 points per game, and as the visiting team they were outscored on average by 2.5 points per game. Results were also found that