ABSTRACT
This study investigates the impact of restricted crowds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the margin of victory of games in the NBA. Using 12,500 game-level observations from 11 NBA seasons from 2010/11 to 2020/21, the study first shows that during the COVID-19 season of 2020/21, games had a greater average margin of victory than any of the prior seasons. Regression results reveal that games played in front of restricted crowds were more likely to be won by a margin of 15,20, or 25 points than games played in front of non-restricted crowds. The results indicate similar effects for games played in an empty arena or in front of a small crowd. Implications for the NBA and other major team sports leagues are discussed.
ABSTRACT
Some previous studies suggest that fans have a positive influence on the home teams and the result of competition. The primary goal of this paper is to test the hypothesis of the positive influence of fans on players and referees on the football field. We used the term "home field advantage", meaning that the fans bring the home team an advantage at the game. The study sample consists of seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 in the 1st Croatian league. The variables in the study are points won, shots on target, yellow cards, red cards, fouls and fans attendance. Due to the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2019/2020 season, almost all matches were played without spectators, which allowed us to test the hypothesis of the connection between the "home field advantage" and the presence of fans on the stands. Statistically significant differences were detected in the variable's points won by the host, free kicks by hosts and guests and shots on target by hosts. Statistical analysis indicated that with the presence of spectators, the home team won 1.76 points, while in the period without the fans it was 1.44 per game. The results of this study confirm that audience contributes to the performance of the home team and inferior performance of visiting team, also on performance and decision-making of referees.