Serious question about home-field/court advantage in different sports...

[skanless13]

Was just thinking about in which sport does home-field/court advantage mean the most, and would love to get people's thoughts and opinions on this. Out of the 4 "major" sports in the US, this is how I would rank them and why:

1) Basketball: because of how close the crowd is, and how "fine" you have to be in order to make shots and be familiar with the surroundings, depth perception, how the court feels, and everything that goes into throwing a ball into a relatively small hoop from pretty great distances.

2) Football: because many stadius are outdoors, and being familiar with the weather and the field conditions...

3) Baseball: due to familiarity with how the ball bounces on the infield, off the walls, and how fine tuned you have to be to hit the ball traveling at high speeds with a piece of wood.

4) Hockey: seems like, in hockey, home court/rink advantage means the least? Not sure why that is as i've never played hockey, but guessing that ice is ice. .yes, the crowd is close, but is separated by the glass walls.



Would love to get other people's thoughts/rankings.

 

[B.A.R.]

Are we looking at just a pro level or including college as well for hoops and football?

 

[skanless13]

Good question.. I was just thinking about pros for all sports.

 

[B.A.R.]

Basketball used to be even more intimidating and still is somewhat with how officials will be more prone to not make calls against home teams and vice-versa. A good old-style crowd would intimidate younger officials at times.

Baseball is definitely about surroundings and the uniqueness of each venue. Come the playoffs... the crowds can be huge lifts to pitchers in my opinion to that feed off the energy.

Hockey and baseball are much easier to win a Game 7 on the road as opposed to basketball.

Football is a whole different thing. Domes can be such a weapon. Teams built for outdoor play can be weapons later in the season as well. Then you have places like Jacksonville/Miami/Tampa etc that provide no real home field advantage. Those are polar opposites of a Seattle, Green Bay or Kansas City for example.

 

[Eazyduzit]

I’d say college basketball and football have the biggest home court advantages.

 

[KJ]

Real Football is the biggest advantage and it's not close

 

[Eazyduzit]

Real Football is the biggest advantage and it's not close

Futbol?

 

[Zeke]

I would agree with your order skanless. I played hockey but only up through HS. Sure it would get loud out on the ice but unlike in the other sports it's not like the crowd can suddenly quiet when the home team has the puck.

 

[KJ]

You had home field advantage against that bear I know that

 

[skanless13]

You had home field advantage against that bear I know that

?

 

[KJ]

 

[skanless13]

:biglaugh:

 

[KJ]

Might be my favorite photo posted here ever

 

[B.A.R.]

Yup, that is a great one.

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

Rugby is best home field advantage my friends.

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

I read a study on this.

Factors used to determine home field edge!!

Rugby by far was the winner due to the following.

Sports that were CONTINUINAL with no timeouts or substitutions or line changes etc were a bigger hind edge because the players are playing the entire game.

The amount of players in the sport mattered also.

If 5 basketball players play maybe 2 are really tired but you have a guy like Lebron or curry who carries the team in his back plus bench guys.

In rugby and soccer there are more players playing continuously offense and defense. If half the rugby team is tired playing in the road they are finished.

Clearly baseball would have almost no home edge other than ball park familiarity.

Football has an edge due to emotion from the crowd.

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

Rugby was the winner followed by soccer.

These sports are very physical and conditioning is everything in these sports.

If you are tired in rugby or soccer your team will lose.

Teams playing in the road are tired and the whole team must run and tackle and run run run.

Rugby wins my friend followed by elite soccer

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

It always comes down to

Amount of players playing

Are the players playing both ways?

Are there breaks between plays?

How long is halftime also matters.

This is why rugby teams and elite soccer teams rarely lose at home. It’s a clear edge to play at home in these sports.

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

Ex. Hockey has less home edge because a road team could have 2 tired lines and 1 line is on fire and scores 3 goals or the goalie is really hot.

 

[KJ]

what about Aussie rules football Sammy?

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

what about Aussie rules football Sammy?

I’m not sure about this game.

But it’s not as physical as rugby, players do run s lot like soccer though.

It’s likely on the level of soccer.

This is why teams like New Zealand didn’t lose st home for years. Rugby huge edge.

Soccer look at premier league. Barcelona Madrid. Rarely lose at home.

 

[skanless13]

Interesting and good info. I agree about Soccer. Not very familiar w/Rugby at all so can't really comment on that.

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

Was just thinking about in which sport does home-field/court advantage mean the most, and would love to get people's thoughts and opinions on this. Out of the 4 "major" sports in the US, this is how I would rank them and why:

1) Basketball: because of how close the crowd is, and how "fine" you have to be in order to make shots and be familiar with the surroundings, depth perception, how the court feels, and everything that goes into throwing a ball into a relatively small hoop from pretty great distances.

2) Football: because many stadius are outdoors, and being familiar with the weather and the field conditions...

3) Baseball: due to familiarity with how the ball bounces on the infield, off the walls, and how fine tuned you have to be to hit the ball traveling at high speeds with a piece of wood.

4) Hockey: seems like, in hockey, home court/rink advantage means the least? Not sure why that is as i've never played hockey, but guessing that ice is ice. .yes, the crowd is close, but is separated by the glass walls.



Would love to get other people's thoughts/rankings.

Ranking the 4 American sports.

I think you have it correct. The intangible edges like awareness bounces turf sight lines are obvious edges to the home team.
I think many edges are physcologicak edges as well.

For me basketball also has the best home court advantage because it’s a 2 way sport. Players run up and down the court with usually 7-8 players playing.

The visiting teams fatigue will factor in more because there are only 7 guys playing instead of a hockey team with 4 lines.

I believe home court edge is not the actual physical aspects of playing at home and is more factors like
1- no airplanes travelling
2- no time difference to adjust to
3- driving in your personal vehicle instead of team bus
4- having your own locker room
5- familiar with training staff gyms etc.
6- being able to see your family
7- having more prep time at home as you don’t have delays screw ups when travelling.
8- eating home cooked food at home instead of hotel garbage
9- having less distractions than on road. Less partying etc.
10- less new things to adjust to.

These 10 reasons are what I believe to be the cause of home court field edge.

 

[Sammy Meatballs]

Sleeping in your own expensive beds vs holiday inn crappy beds