While watching a Red Sox game, the NESN broadcast brought up a statistic on the screen about the team’s at-home record. The table showed their win/loss record of 46/32, showing that they have done significantly better at home. Of course, Boston’s Fenway Park is home to some of the most passionate fans in the country, but it made me wonder: across all sorts of sports, why do teams tend to do better at home?
To be sure, I checked the 2024 Montana Griz Football team’s win/loss record. Away games were dead even, with a 3/3 record, but their home record was 6/2. It isn’t like they were a different team while away, right? So why did they do so much better at home? Again, Missoula fans—especially during football season—are very passionate. According to an article by Grizzly Athletics, the Montana Griz have sold out 2025 season ticket packages. And as of 2024, the stadium averaged 24,174 fans per game, almost filling the entire stadium.
So on this topic, the fanbase can make a decent impact on the team, cheering and staying quiet at the right times. Something interesting I found was a 2024 study on a Norwegian ice hockey team. This study showed that during the 2020-21 COVID-19 season, away teams would actually tend to score more, and home teams would oddly get more suspensions, causing power plays for the opposing team. With a crowd, home teams would average 2.93 goals a game, while the away team would average 2.65. Furthermore, the away teams would get penalized more, averaging 4.57 suspensions compared to 4.07.
Another interesting aspect of this is referees. A prior study showed that referees would actually favor home teams. A study conducted on 10 professional soccer teams in Europe showed that referees would subconsciously favor home teams, while in front of a noisy crowd. They found that referees would double the extra time if it would help out the home team. Again, once the crowd was out of the picture, referees would be more fair.
On the other hand, an article posted by the Chicago Booth Review says otherwise about home field advantage. Two professors looked at statistics on teams winning at home, and they seemed to find “no persuasive evidence” that crowds had a direct impact on a team’s performance. They did find, though, that referees do tend to favor home teams during the games.
The crowd can certainly play a role in team confidence and referee influence, but are there any other factors that can give a team home team advantage? In some cases, yes. I read an article about the Miami Dolphins stadium, and how it can give the team a unique advantage. According to this article, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami is specially designed so the local team’s sideline can stay in the shade, while the away team’s sideline is right in the Miami sun.
In a game against the Minnesota Vikings, Miami’s sideline was a whopping 33 degrees cooler than Minnesota’s side. Miami also chooses to wear white home jerseys (typically teams will have their away jerseys be white), meaning the away team has to wear darker and more heat absorbing colored jerseys. This is certainly a sneaky little way for the Dolphins to get a subtle advantage, especially considering the away team isn’t prepared or used to the heat.
In some cases, home teams get an automatic advantage based on the rules of the game. Baseball teams get an automatic home-advantage due to them being able to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning. For example, if a home team is winning during the top of the 9th inning, and they keep the lead after the 3rd out, the game is over. But, if the home team is losing or tied, then they will get an extra chance to end the game or walk it off if you will (take Freddie Freeman’s walk off grand slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series).
Overall, home field advantage isn’t a myth, but a strong factor into helping teams win at home. From a roaring crowd, to referee bias, and so many more aspects, there is a reason why teams tend to have better winning odds at home. While people will continue to debate the true impact and effect of it, we know that it is real, and it isn’t going anywhere.
