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Szabó DZ, Kerényi P. The causal impacts of empty stadiums on women's sports activities: Evidence from European football leagues. PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT AND EXERCISE 2023; 66:102385. [PMID: 37665850 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
This paper examines the effect of spectators on women's football games. COVID-19 and related restrictions provide a unique opportunity with an adequate sample size to test the effect of lockdown on sports activities. Studies have recently exploited this opportunity for men's football to better understand the potential causes of home advantage and, more specifically, assess the psychological consequences when matches are played without supporters. Despite the increased scientific interest, there was only one paper that focused on women's football. Therefore, we aim to contribute to this research field by considering matches from four major European women's football leagues. The findings suggest that for three of these leagues, lockdown has a statistically significant effect on the sanctioned yellow cards by either reducing the number of yellow cards sanctioned to the away teams or increasing the number of yellow cards sanctioned to the home teams. Nonetheless, lockdown does not affect any final match outcomes; therefore, it does not significantly affect the magnitude of home advantage for women's games.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Péter Kerényi
- Corvinus University of Budapest, 1093, Budapest, Fővám tér 8, Hungary.
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Leota J, Hoffman D, Mascaro L, Czeisler ME, Nash K, Drummond SPA, Anderson C, Rajaratnam SMW, Facer-Childs ER. Home is where the hustle is: the influence of crowds on effort and home advantage in the National Basketball Association. J Sports Sci 2022; 40:2343-2352. [PMID: 36512468 DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2022.2154933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Studies have consistently shown crowds contribute to home advantage in the National Basketball Association (NBA) by inspiring home team effort, distracting opponents, and influencing referees. Quantifying the effect of crowds is challenging, however, due to potential co-occurring drivers of home advantage (e.g., travel, location familiarity). Our aim was to isolate the crowd effect using a "natural experiment" created by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which eliminated crowds in 53.4% of 2020/2021 NBA regular season games (N = 1080). Using mixed linear models, we show, in games with crowds, home teams won 58.65% of games and, on average, outrebounded and outscored their opponents. This was a significant improvement compared to games without crowds, of which home teams won 50.60% of games and, on average, failed to outrebound or outscore their opponents. Further, the crowd-related increase in rebound differential mediated the relationship between crowds and points differential. Taken together, these results suggest home advantage in the 2020/2021 NBA season was predominately driven by the presence of home crowds and their influence on the effort exerted to rebound the basketball. These findings are of considerable significance to a league where marginal gains can have immense competitive, financial, and historic consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josh Leota
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia
| | - Daniel Hoffman
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia
| | - Luis Mascaro
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia
| | - Mark E Czeisler
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia.,Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Austin Health, Clayton, Australia.,Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Suburban, Monash, USA
| | - Kyle Nash
- Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Suburban, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Sean P A Drummond
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia
| | - Clare Anderson
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia
| | - Shantha M W Rajaratnam
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia.,Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Austin Health, Clayton, Australia.,Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Suburban, Monash, USA.,Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Suburban, Monash, USA
| | - Elise R Facer-Childs
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Suburban, Australia.,Danny Frawley Centre for Health and Wellbeing, Melbourne, Australia
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Leitner MC, Daumann F, Follert F, Richlan F. The cauldron has cooled down: a systematic literature review on home advantage in football during the COVID-19 pandemic from a socio-economic and psychological perspective. MANAGEMENT REVIEW QUARTERLY 2022. [PMCID: PMC8724651 DOI: 10.1007/s11301-021-00254-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The phenomenon of home advantage (home bias) is well-analyzed in the scientific literature. But only the COVID-19 pandemic enabled studies on this phenomenon—for the first time in history—on a global scale. Thus, several studies to date examined the effects of empty stadiums by comparing regular matches (with supporters) before the COVID-19 restrictions with so-called ghost games (games without supporters) during the pandemic. To synthesize the existing knowledge and offer an overview regarding the effects of ghost games on home advantage we provide a systematic literature review on this topic. Our findings—based on 26 primary studies—indicate that ghost games have a considerable impact on the phenomenon of home advantage. Deeper analysis further indicates that this effect is based on a reduced “referee bias” and a lack of “emotional support from the ranks”. From a psychological perspective, we argue that our conclusions are highly relevant by emphasizing decision making under pressure and crowd-induced motivation in sports. From a socio-economic perspective, we argue that our findings legitimize a discussion regarding compensation of fans after sporting success as plausible and worth considering. Thus, our results are significant for scientists, sports and team managers, media executives, fan representatives and other persons responsible in the football industry.
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