Home teams win over 50% of sporting contests. The sociological appeal of this is the assumption that home advantages are partly the result of the support fans provide, with the collective inspiring teams to performances above normal achievements. Recent changes in professional sports suggest that home support may not be as strong as once expected as structural conditions producing the home advantage have shifted. Distancing of players from fans via free agency and rapid salary escalation, coupled with marketing designed to create national publics, can produce declines in the home advantage. Levels of home advantage have decreased over 20 years, and now, an increase in crowd size reduces the home team's chances of winning. Teams can still garner support from home crowds, but professional sports are less likely to be representations for local communities; the social bases of the home advantage have been eroded by economic forces and league marketing.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, R. D., & Kupper, S. J. (1994). The effect of expertise on peak performance: The case of home-field advantage . Journal of Sport Behavior, 17, 108-119 .
2.
Agnew, G. A., & Carron, A. V. (1994). Crowd effects and the home advantage . International Journal of Sport Psychology, 25, 53-62 .
3.
Baade, R. A., & Sanderson, A. R. (1997). The employment effect of teams and sports facilites. In R. G. Noll & A. Zimbalist (Eds.), Sports, jobs, and taxes: The economic impact of sports teams and stadiums (pp. 92-118). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution .
Birrell, S. (1981). Sport as ritual: Interpretations from Durkheim to Goffman . Social Forces, 60, 354-376 .
6.
Bray, S. R., & Widmeyer, W. N. (2000). Athlete's perceptions of the home advantage: An investigation of perceived causal factors . Journal of Sport Behavior, 23, 1-10 .
7.
Butler, J. L., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). The trouble with friendly faces: Skilled performance with a supportive audience . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1213-1230 .
8.
Coakley, J. J. (1998). Sport in Society: Issues and controversies (6th ed.). Boston: WCB/McGraw Hill .
9.
Courneya, K. S. (1990). Importance of game location and scoring first in college baseball . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 71, 624-626 .
10.
Courneya, K. S., & Carron, A. V. (1992). The home advantage in sport competitions: A literature review . Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 14, 13-27 .
11.
Durkheim, E. (1965). The elementary forms of the religious life. New York: Free Press .
12.
Edwards, J. (1979). The homefield advantage. In J. H. Goldstein (Ed.), Sports, games, and play: Social and psychological viewpoints (pp. 409-430). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
13.
Edwards, J., & Archambault, D. (1989). The home-field advantage. In J. H. Goldstein (Ed.), Sports, games, and play: Social and psychological viewpoints (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum .
14.
Euchner, C. C. (1993). Playing the field: Why sports teams move and cities fight to keep them. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press .
15.
Gayton, W. F., & Coombs, R. (1995). The home advantage in high school basketball . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81, 1344-1346 .
16.
Gayton, W. F., & Langevin, G. (1992). Home advantage: Does it exist in individual sports . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 74 , 706 .
17.
Gayton, W. F., Mutrie, S. A., & Hearns, J. F. (1987). Home advantage: Does it exist in women's sports . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 65, 653-654 .
18.
Greer, D. L. (1983). Spectator booing and the home advantage: A study of social influence in the basketball arena . Social Psychology Quarterly, 46, 252-261 .
19.
Hamilton, B. W., & Kahn, P. (1997). Baltimore's Camden Yards. In R. G. Noll & A. Zimbalist (Eds.), Sports, jobs, and taxes: The economic impact of sports teams and stadiums (pp. 245-281). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution .
Horn, J. C. (1988). Dome-inating the game . Psychology Today, 22, 20 .
22.
Irving, P. G., & Goldstein, S. R. (1990). Effect of home-field advantage on peak performance of baseball pitchers . Journal of Sport Behavior, 13, 23-27 .
23.
Kemp, S. (1984). Estimating the sizes of sports crowds . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 59, 723-729 .
24.
Koppett, L. (1973). The ex-national sport looks to its image. In E. H. Mizruchi (Ed.), The substance of sociology: Codes, conduct and consequences (pp. 392-398). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts .
25.
Lehman, D. R., & Reifman A. (1987). Spectator influence on basketball officiating . The Journal of Social Psychology, 127, 673-675 .
26.
Leifer, E. M. (1995a). Making the majors: The transformation of team sports in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
27.
Leifer, E. E. (1995b). Perverse effects of social support: Publics and performance in major league sports . Social Forces, 74, 81-118 .
28.
Lewis, B. P., & Linder, D. E. (1997). Thinking about choking? Attentional processes and paradoxical performance . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 937-944 .
29.
Madrigal, R., & James, J. (1999). Team quality and the home advantage . Journal of Sport Behavior, 22, 381-398 .
30.
McAndrew, F. T. (1993). The home advantage in individual sports . The Journal of Social Psychology, 133, 401-403 .
31.
McGuire, E. J., Courneya, K. S., Widmeyer, W. N., & Carron, A. V. (1992). Aggression as a potential mediator of the home advantage in professional ice hockey . Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 14, 148-158 .
32.
Mitrano, J. R. (1999). The “sudden death” of hockey in Hartford: Sports fans and franchise relocation . Sociology of Sport Journal, 16, 134-154 .
33.
Mizruchi, M. S. (1985). Local sports teams and celebration of community: A comparative analysis of the home advantage . The Sociological Quarterly, 26, 507-518 .
34.
Moore, J. C., & Brylinsky, J. A. (1993). Spectator effect on team performance in college basketball . Journal of Sport Behavior, 16, 77-84 .
35.
Moore, J. C., & Brylinsky, J. A. (1995). Facility familiarity and the home advantage . Journal of Sport Behavior, 18, 302-311 .
36.
Nevill, A. M., Balmer, N., & Williams, M. (1999). Crowd influence on decisions in association football . The Lancet, 353, 1416 .
37.
Nevill, A. M., & Holder, R. L. (1999). Home advantage in sport: An overview of studies on the advantage of playing at home . Sports Medicine, 28, 221-236 .
38.
Nevill, Alan M., Newell, S. M., & Gale, S. (1996). Factors associated with home advantage in English and Scottish soccer matches . Journal of Sport Sciences, 14, 181-186 .
39.
Noll, R. G. (1974). Attendance and price setting. In R. G. Noll (Ed.), Government and the sports business: Papers prepared for a conference of experts, with an introduction and summary (pp. 115-157). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution .
40.
Pace, A., & Carron, A. V. (1992). Travel and the home advantage . Canadian Journal of Sport Sciences, 17, 60-64 .
41.
Paulus, P. B., & Cornelius, W. L. (1974). An analysis of gymnastic performance under conditions of practice and spectator observation . The Research Quarterly, 45, 56-63 .
42.
Paulus, P. B., Shannon, J. C., Wilson, D. L., & Boone, T. D. (1972). The effect of spectator presence on gymnastic performance in a field situation . Psychonomic Science, 29, 88-90 .
43.
Pollard, R. (1986). Home advantage in soccer: A retrospective analysis . Journal of Sport Sciences, 4, 237-248 .
44.
Riordan, J. (1987). Soviet muscular socialism: A Durkheimian analysis . Sociology of Sport Journal, 4, 376-393 .
45.
Salminen, S. (1993). The effect of the audience on the home advantage . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 76, 1123-1128 .
46.
Schwartz, B., & Barsky, S. F. (1977). The home advantage . Social Forces, 55, 641-661 .
47.
Silva, J. M., III, & Andrew, A. (1987). An analysis of game location and basketball performance in the Atlantic Coast conference . International Journal of Sport Psychology, 18, 188-204 .
48.
Smith, D. R., Ciacciarelli, A., Serzan, J., & Lambert, D. (2000). Travel and the home advantage in professional sports . Sociology of Sport Journal, 17, 364-385 .
49.
Snyder, E. E., & Purdy, D. A. (1985). The home advantage in collegiate basketball . Sociology of Sport Journal, 2, 352-356 .
50.
The Sporting News. (1997a). Baseball guide: 1997 edition. St. Louis, MO: Author .
51.
The Sporting News. (1997b). Hockey guide: 1997-98 edition. St. Louis, MO: Author .
52.
The Sporting News. (1997c). Official NBA guide: 1997-98 edition. St. Louis, MO: Author .
53.
The Sporting News. (1998). Baseball guide: 1998 edition. St. Louis, MO: Author .
54.
Thirer, J., & Rampey, M. S. (1979). Effects of abusive spectators' behavior on performance of home and visiting intercollegiate basketball teams . Perceptual and Motor Skills, 48, 1047-1053 .
55.
Varca, P. E. (1980). An analysis of home and away performance of male college basketball teams . Journal of Sport Psychology, 2, 245-257 .
56.
Wankel, L. (1984). Audience effects in sport. In J. M. Silva III & R. S. Weinberg (Eds.), Psychological foundations of sport (pp. 293-314). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetic Publishers .
57.
Wann, D. L., Dolan, T. J., McGeorge, K. K., & Allison, J. A. (1994). Relationships between spectator identification and spectators' perceptions of influence, spectators' emotions and competition outcome . Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16, 347-364 .
58.
Ward, R. E., Jr. (1998). Rituals, first impressions, and the opening day home advantage . Sociology of Sport Journal, 15, 279-293 .
59.
Wellman, B. (1979). The community question: The intimate networks of East Yorkers . American Journal of Sociology, 84, 1202-1231 .
60.
Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation . Science, 149, 269-274 .
61.
Zeller, R. A., & Jurkovac, T. (1988). Doming the stadium: The case for baseball . Sports Place International, 3, 35-38 .
