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Modelling home advantage in the Summer Olympic Games.
N J Balmer1, A M Nevill, A M Williams
1Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK.
Journal of Sports Sciences
|July 9, 2003
Summary
Home advantage in sports is influenced by officiating. Subjectively judged events show significant home advantage, while objectively judged events do not, suggesting crowd influence on officials.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Home advantage is a well-documented phenomenon in team sports.
- Crowd influence on officials' decisions is a proposed mechanism for home advantage.
- Previous research has not comprehensively compared home advantage across different judging criteria.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the significance of home advantage in the Summer Olympic Games (1896-1996).
- To compare home advantage across objectively judged, subjectively judged, and team game events.
- To investigate the role of officiating in home advantage.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of five event groups from Summer Olympic Games (1896-1996).
- Categorization of events into objectively judged (athletics, weightlifting), subjectively judged (boxing, gymnastics), and team games.
- Statistical analysis using generalized linear interactive modelling (GLIM) on proportion of points won, controlling for competitor numbers and splitting data pre- and post-war.
Main Results:
- Highly significant home advantage observed in subjectively judged events and team games.
- Little to no home advantage (or even away advantage) found in objectively judged events.
- The officiating system was a critical factor in the presence and magnitude of home advantage.
Conclusions:
- Home advantage is strongly linked to the subjectivity of officiating and decision-making.
- Crowd noise appears to influence officials' judgments more than athletes' performances.
- The officiating system's nature is vital to understanding the extent of home advantage in sports.