The Home Field Disadvantage in Sports Championships: Does It Exist in Hockey?

Abstract

Popular belief in "a home field advantage" has persisted for many years in organized sports (Koppet, 1972). Recently this belief has received empirical support. Schwartz and Barsky (1977) found the home team winning 53% of the time in professional baseball, 60% in professional football, 64% in professional ice hockey, and 64% in college basketball. Edwards (1979) found the home team winning 54.4% of the time in professional football, 58.6% in college football, and 55.6% in professional baseball. Varca (1980) found the home team winning 70% of the time in college basketball. Thus, through statistical analysis, all of these studies confirm the popular belief in the home court advantage. Although these studies consistently support a home field advantage, Baumeister and Steinhilber (1984) have recently reported that under certain conditions the home field may be disadvantageous. Specifically, they hypothesized that the imminent opportunity of winning a major championship in front of a supportive audience would lead to a paradoxical decrement in performance. This was expected to be the result of self-presentational concerns that interfere with the execution of skillful responses. An analysis of archival data from championship playoffs in professional baseball and basketball supported their reasoning. Comparing home-win percentages of the first 2 games of the baseball world series with the last game during the period 1924 to 1982, Baumeister and Steinhilber found the home team winning 60% of the time in games 1 and 2 but only 40% of the time in the last game, whether the last game was game 5, 6, or 7. When the analysis was restricted to defining game 7 as the decisive game, a similar reversal of the home team advantage was apparent. Similarly, using National Basketball Association championship series between 1967 and 1982, they found the home team winning 70% of the time in games 1 through 4 but only 46% of the time in the last game, whether it was game 5 ,6 , or 7. When the analysis was restricted to the 13 series that lasted all seven games, a similar reversal of the home team advantage was apparent.