Game Day

How Much Does Home Field Advantage Matter?

By Ashton Grenon|Updated on June 27, 2023 (originally published on March 10, 2022)

One of the best feelings as an athlete is playing the sport you love in front of hundreds or thousands of fans cheering you on. Playing on your home field or court adds a different mindset to the game. You want to do your best in front of your fans. But, when going on the road, you want to do your best to keep the opposing crowd quiet and out of the game. So, how much does home field advantage really matter?

College Football
NCAA football is home to some of the biggest stadiums in all of sports, professional sports included. For example, LSU's football stadium seats up to 102,000 people! A study from 2019 showed that the home team in college football games won 65.3% of home games. For comparison, home teams in the NFL that same year only won 51.8% of their home games. However, one thing to keep in mind is that in college football, there are some matchups throughout the season in which a powerhouse school will host a lesser known or talented school.

College Basketball
NCAA basketball, similarly to NCAA football, features some of the most passionate fan bases in all of sports. While basketball arenas don't seat nearly as many people as most football stadiums, the jam-packed environment plus the gym acoustics fosters some of the loudest crowds ever recorded. The same study from 2019 showed that a whopping 67.8% of home teams in college hoops won, compared to the NBA, in which only 59.3% of home teams won in the 2019 season. See the trend?

Factors to Take into Account
When analyzing these numbers and data from home games, you must keep in mind key factors (beyond the crowd) that have an impact on the games. Weather and travel both play a large role in performance. A school such as Florida State, where the athletes would be used to warm weather, would find it more difficult to travel across the country to Oregon and play in weather conditions they are not used to. Traveling across the country and having to play a sporting event a day or two later is also not something that can be taken lightly. For example, the time difference between east and west coast can lead to sleep schedules being thrown off kilter. Not to mention the effect long hours in a car or plane can have on your body.

All in all, home field advantage, backed with the data to prove it, is MORE impactful at the collegiate level than the professional level. This could be due to a plethora of reasons, such as the passion that college fan sections bring to a collegiate game, or the fact that professional athletes are more accustomed to traveling each week. From my playing experience in high school, I always found the home crowd to give an advantage. From the opposing side, the noise levels and chants may sound simple, but from a player's perspective, they can get into your head if you let them. As you continue to become used to playing on the road, this may become an easier thing to deal with, but until then and even if you think it may be easier, any athlete would tell you that playing at home is better than playing on the road. Never take your passionate fans for granted!

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