A comprehensive survey of the home advantage in American football

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of home advantage in American football across different levels, revealing a decline in professional and collegiate leagues possibly due to technological and logistical improvements.

Contribution

It offers a uniform, long-term analysis of home advantage in American football, filling gaps left by previous studies limited to short time frames and specific leagues.

Findings

Home advantage is declining in the NFL and NCAA.

No decline observed in amateur football.

Technological and logistical factors may influence home advantage trends.

Abstract

The existence and justification to the home advantage -- the benefit a sports team receives when playing at home -- has been studied across sport. The majority of research on this topic is limited to individual leagues in short time frames, which hinders extrapolation and a deeper understanding of possible causes. Using nearly two decades of data from the National Football League (NFL), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and high schools from across the United States, we provide a uniform approach to understanding the home advantage in American football. Our findings suggest home advantage is declining in the NFL and the highest levels of collegiate football, but not in amateur football. This increases the possibility that characteristics of the NCAA and NFL, such as travel improvements and instant replay, have helped level the playing field.