# Where is the best home field advantage in sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 7, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168 "2008-12-07T21:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/41 "2008-12-10T02:31:09Z")
> [@Tenebras](#): > > Yeah, but they call it Coors Light up there. You ever felt the sensation of snorting a ice cream sandwich out your nose? I just did. 🆒 > [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Bill Simmons on [ESPN.com](http://ESPN.com) recently did a story about the demise of home field advantage in the NFL. His theory is that the new stadiums are all about luxury boxes and the high-end crowd, and less about having the die-hards near the action and making a lot of noise. 116-91 (.560) looks to be about the same as in past years (random choice: 2001, .548). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/42 "2008-12-10T02:37:39Z")
Galatasaray’s [Ali Sami Yen Stadium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Sami_Yen_Stadium) (aka Hell) in Istanbul Turkey has got to be up there. Though I agree with the OP that that the altitude of some of the Latin American stadiums probably make the most difference to the visiting team. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/43 "2008-12-10T02:39:38Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > Can’t do colored turf anywhere. BSU is grandfathered in. Actually I think that’s a myth. I couldn’t find anything definitive on the NCAA website, but see[this article](http://www.tri-cityherald.com/1412/story/320379.html). Boise State’s [Bronco Stadium wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronco_Stadium) says this: > [@](#): > > There are many myths about the blue turf. Two of the most prevalent are: > There is an NCAA rule banning turf colors other than green, but BSU’s field is allowed to remain blue under a grandfather clause. > The NCAA has no such rule; any school may paint its field any color other than green if it wishes. Though painting the end zones is common, and schools have wide latitude in how to do so, BSU has chosen a non-green color for the field itself. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/44 "2008-12-10T03:06:08Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > I don’t even see Michigan on that list. I know Michigan is first on winning percentage and number of games won It is there, but when you are 9-1 or 8-2 year after year the home and away difference is small. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/45 "2008-12-10T03:49:58Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > 116-91 (.560) looks to be about the same as in past years (random choice: 2001, .548). I think he was looking at it more from a gambling/covering the spread viewpoint, meaning even when the home team wins they’re not winning by as much as Vegas thinks they should win by. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/46 "2008-12-10T05:34:50Z")
> [@Darth\_Sensitive](#): > > I’m not entirely sure what my answer is, but I would lean towards one of the soccer stadiums in South America. La Paz Olympic jams 45,000 fans in around you and you’re almost 12,000 feet above sea level. Without wading through all of the silly responses, I would think you have a winner. I doubt I could walk a block at 12,000 feet, let alone play a sport. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/47 "2008-12-10T13:36:36Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Without wading through all of the silly responses, I would think you have a winner. I doubt I could walk a block at 12,000 feet, let alone play a sport. He’s probably right, which is why FIFA banned World Cup qualifying matches above a certain altitude. It’s something slightly above the elevation of Mexico city. I think it outlaws Ecuador’s favorite stadium though. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/48 "2008-12-10T21:35:08Z")
The last two World Cup qualifiers played between the US and Mexico were in 2005. They were played in Mexico City (Mexico won 2-1) and Columbus, OH (USA 2-0). The two countries played a pair of friendlies in 2007 in Glendale, AZ and Chicago and the USA won both matches. The 2001 World Cup qualifier between the USA and Mexico was in Columbus. In 1997, it was played in Foxboro. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/49 "2008-12-10T21:44:35Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] The fans throw urine-filled bags at the visiting team? [/QUOTE] > [@Tenebras](#): > > Yeah, but they call it Coors Light up there. You’re insulting the taste of urine! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/50 "2008-12-11T04:54:20Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [HFA.bmp (image)](http://bp1.blogger.com/__iKahg3OC0Q/SItnwghO1-I/AAAAAAAAAVg/2uKAYX8bnTk/s1600-h/HFA.bmp) Heres football. Home field advantage is the difference between away victories and home victories. it has to attempt to reconcile a very talented team that wins everywhere. That’s an interesting approach, but I don’t buy it. You do have to come up with something that weights out the “but they’d win anywhere” factor - but all that seems to do is pick out the teams that suck on the road and play in really weak conferences. I mean, yes - I buy that Hawaii and Boise State would be high, for the uniqueness those stadiums present (distance and horribleness). I would probably give the edge to Oregon St - they’re apparently extremely loud and intimidating. It’s the lack of LSU, Florida, Michigan and Tennessee near the top that have me perplexed and doubting the method. And the main problem with the Fresno States, the Akrons and the Wyomings is that they have bigger home/road splits because they can’t get the competition to come to them - they have to travel to make a name for themselves. Anyone honestly think that Pete Carroll is going to take his team out to play Bowling Green? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/51 "2008-12-11T05:19:38Z")
> [@](#): > > So the only way to get a less-random baseball league is to make the better teams better and the worse teams worse. It’s hard to imagine that would lead to a bigger home-field impact. In fact, it would lead to less of one, because it’s clear that the closer matched two teams are, the more important home-field advantage is. Or you could remove the randomness the same way they actually do it, by playing multi-game series. That’ll incoherently add the noise, but coherently add any non-random factors. So what I’m suggesting is that if you play a long enough series to get the same determinism as basketball, all in one team’s home turf, that you’d get a larger home field advantage than in basketball. Of course, this is precisely why they _don’t_ play a full series all on one team’s turf, but the thought experiment is simple enough to perform, with the current teams. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/52 "2008-12-11T06:04:04Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > It’s not really every year. The USA plays friendlies in places they know will have a large proportion of Mexican fans because they want the money. When it’s for something important then they try to make it tough on el Tri. Most of my fellow US soccer fanatics are betting that the February 11th game will be in Columbus, Ohio. This will be the first match of the Hex which determines who gets into the 2010 World Cup. The Mexico match will be in Azteca. Sunil Gupta, the head of USSF has said that he’s offered to play them in a more accommodating place, but I think that’s just joking or sort of smack talk at best. Yeah. I’m not buying that we’d be willing to play a qualifier in San Diego if they’d move their game out of Azteca. That would be stupid. Too stupid even for the USSF. > [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Dos a cero, baby! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/53 "2008-12-12T15:53:50Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > In Russia, the players throw bags of urine at the fans. In Soviet Russia, bags of urine throw fans at YOU. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168/54 "2008-12-12T16:21:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If I’m understanding those advantage numbers correctly, that means that in baseball, having the home field is about a quarter as big an advantage as having the best team in the league. That sounds huge, to me. I don’t really grasp why those numbers are relevant to each other. That baseball teams are closer to each other in winning percentage is interesting, but unless I’m missing part of your logic, it doesn’t have anything to do with home field advantage being more or less important. The collective winning percentage in a sport is always .500; the standard deviation from that can vary, but what does that have to do with home field advantage? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-best-home-field-advantage-in-sports/476168.md?page=2)