# Is "Home Team/Home Advantage' a phrase used in US sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 20, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696 "2020-01-20T11:22:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/21 "2020-01-20T18:40:02Z")
This has been very useful. I have woven ‘home field advantage’ into the narrative. Thank you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/22 "2020-01-20T18:51:26Z")
I think home team advantage is bigger for some college teams than any pro team. For example Duke BB has an old small arena that is always packed with plenty of loud students. It only holds 9k. Of course it helps they pretty much always have a top 10 team. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/23 "2020-01-20T19:05:15Z")
I’ve always heard “home field” and “home court” advantage, for football/baseball and basketball. I have not commonly heard “home advantage” or “home team advantage”. I am a big football fan and probably watch over 30 football games each year on TV, and an occasional baseball/basketball fan; maybe a few games a year. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/24 "2020-01-20T20:48:43Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’ve always heard “home field” and “home court” advantage, for football/baseball and basketball. I have not commonly heard “home advantage” or “home team advantage”. I am a big football fan and probably watch over 30 football games each year on TV, and an occasional baseball/basketball fan; maybe a few games a year. All of that is true for me as well. Home field/court. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/25 "2020-01-20T23:12:34Z")
Tangentially on this subject, one might remember the recent historic 2019 World Series between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros where, being the exception to prove the rule, for the _first time in the history of the Series including the analogous basketball and hockey championships_, the _visiting_ team won ALL SEVEN games, coming from behind in the final game for a surprise victory to win the game and the Series. They’ll be discussing this in the Baseball History books for some time to come! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/26 "2020-01-20T23:29:55Z")
Another vote for “home \_\_\_\_\_ advantage,” where the blank can be filled with field, court, or ice, as appropriate for the sport. “Home advantage” or “home team advantage” would be understood in North America, but somehow doesn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/27 "2020-01-21T00:51:24Z")
Interstingly, there have been two World SEries where the home team won all sedven games - and the Minnesota Twins won both Series. In 1987 they beat St. Louis 4-3, winning all four games in Minneapolis and losing all three in St. Louis. In 1991 they beat Atlanta 4-3, same pattern. By random chance, this should happen roughly once every 75 years or so, so the Twins defied the odds, but I guess over the course of 115 World Series it’s about what you would expect. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/28 "2020-01-21T01:18:06Z")
> [@MrFloppy](#): > > In the NFL it’s definitely a thing. The crowd noise can certainly affect the visiting QB’s instructions and snap count. Seattle holds the stadium noise record at about 138dB. According to [Guinness](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/loudest-crowd-roar-at-a-sports-stadium?fb_comment_id=767546573317894_797009153704969), that record was broken at Arrowhead Stadium in KC in 2014 during a Monday Night Football game. 142.2 decibels. (I was there.) [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/29 "2020-01-21T02:04:05Z")
“Home team” is very common, and so is its counterpart, “visiting team.” “Home team advantage” is a fairly common phrase, but not “home advantage” or “home gain.” ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/30 "2020-01-21T02:11:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “Home team advantage” is a fairly common phrase No, it’s not. As others have stated upthread, it’s ‘home court advantage’ or ‘home field advantage’. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/31 "2020-01-21T02:17:31Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > No, it’s not. As others have stated upthread, it’s ‘home court advantage’ or ‘home field advantage’. There’s more than one post upthread that disagree with you. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/32 "2020-01-21T02:55:37Z")
I think I would normally say home team advantage, but usage may well be regional. Home gain, or any variation on that would not be understood. Interestingly the Times had an article on the decline of home \ advantage just a few days ago (maybe Saturday) and they mentioned that in football, it dropped significantly after the introduction of replay reviews. That must say something about the refereeing. It dropped, IIRC from 58% to 53%. It should be noted that baseball has a natural home advantage. A team losing in the bottom of the ninth (or extra) inning knows whether it has to play a one-run strategy or must try for multiples. And in a tie game they need only one run. But the real advantage is that playing fields, unlike any other sport I can think of, are not standardized. And they all have places with funny shapes or that give funny bounces and the home players simply learn more about their home field than any other stadium they play in. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/33 "2020-01-21T03:12:51Z")
Agree that “home field/court advantage” is common here, “home team advantage” is less so but recognizable and not weird, but other variations such as “home advantage” sound odd. The first of those three phrases is so recognizable that my brain would fill in “field” etc. and I’d get the reference if an ad mentioned something like “home office advantage.” Just as a general thing: Americans are a diverse group. I’m from California and fully 75% of my countrymen say things that sound as strange to me as anything to fall from the lips of a Brit. Seriously, Southerners, stop calling every carbonated beverage a “Coke.” WTactualF. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696/34 "2020-01-21T03:25:21Z")
Like **spoons** said, ‘home team advantage’ just doesn’t sound right. I really don’t think I’ve heard it very much. Certainly not nearly as much as ‘home court advantage’ or ‘home field advantage’. Compare these two statements: a. Arrowhead Stadium gives the Chiefs a tremendous home field advantage. b. Arrowhead Stadium gives the Chiefs a tremendous home team advantage. To me, statement ‘a’ sounds right, and statement ‘b’ doesn’t really make sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-home-team-home-advantage-a-phrase-used-in-us-sports/846696.md?page=1)