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Finance and Financial Management Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Gaming and Casino Operations Management
UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal
Market efficiency, Sports wagering, NFL, Home field advantage
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Full-Text Articles in Finance and Financial Management
How Much Of ‘Home Field Advantage’ Comes From The Fans? A Natural Experiment From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kevin Krieger, Justin L. Davis
How Much Of ‘Home Field Advantage’ Comes From The Fans? A Natural Experiment From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kevin Krieger, Justin L. Davis
UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal
Home field advantage has been a commonly discussed and researched topic in sports. How much of this advantage is due to the home team’s supporters’ physical attendance at the game where they might encourage their team, intimidate the opponent, and influence game officials? We utilize the unique natural experiment of the COVID-19 pandemic and consider the case of American professional (NFL) and collegiate (NCAA) football to examine this question. We measure how typical spreads, relative to home teams, changed in the 2020 season compared to their historical levels, and we determine that roughly half of what football fans and analysts …