An Econometric Analysis of Home Field Advantage in the World’s Largest Sports: Pre and Post COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to measure the home field advantage across sports and within sports. The study also sets forth an analysis of the soccer games played in empty stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measure whether there is any difference between playing in front of fans and without fans: Something that has not been captured before. We use data for the years 2016-2019 from the top five UEFA soccer leagues, the NBA and the NFL. We find that home field advantage is present in soccer, however, there is no significant difference between its top five leagues or over the last four years. We also find that for both the NBA and the NFL, there is no home advantage, however, there is a difference between each of their respective divisions. Finally, we show that playing in front of no fans for the UEFA leagues because of COVID-19 causes home field advantage to dissipate.