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. 2022 Apr;129(2):328-342.
doi: 10.1177/00315125211072483. Epub 2022 Feb 27.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on HOME Advantage in Different European Professional Basketball Leagues

Enrique Alonso  1   2 , Alberto Lorenzo  1 , Carlos Ribas  3 , Miguel Ángel Gómez  1
Affiliations

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on HOME Advantage in Different European Professional Basketball Leagues

Enrique Alonso et al. Percept Mot Skills. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Our purpose in this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on home advantage (HA) in sports by comparing European professional basketball games in which spectators were present (pre-pandemic) with "ghost" games in which spectators were absent (during the pandemic). A secondary objective was to analyze how team ability interacted with HA by comparing HA affects pre-pandemic and during the pandemic in the context of differing team ability levels. We used Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests to identify HA through differences in home win percentages (HW%) between pre-pandemic and pandemic games. Additionally, we ran the Kruskal-Wallis test to identify HA and HW% differences between different team ability levels (high to low). Teams had higher HA and HW% pre-pandemic than during the pandemic. In turn, low level teams presented a higher HA compared to teams at other team ability levels. Thus, low level teams benefited more from playing at their home-court. However, low level teams showed lower HW% than medium and high team ability levels, showing that team ability is more important than HA in determining game outcomes.

Keywords: coronavirus; home court advantage; team ability; team sport.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Comparative Analyis of HA Between Both Periods (Pre Pandemic and Post Pandemic)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Comparative Analysis of Percentage HW Between Both Periods (Pre Pandemic and Post Pandemic)
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Comparative Analysis (pre - vs post - pandemic ) of HA and WH% for Each Team Ability Level
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Comparative Analysis of HA Between All Three Team Ability Levels (High, Medium, Low)
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Comparative Analysis of HW% Between All Three Team Ability Levels (High, Medium, Low)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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