Impact of Spectators, League and Team Ability on Home Advantage in Professional European Basketball
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
Our aim in this study was to examine the impact of fans (vs. no fans), geographical location of league, and team ability on home winning percentage (HW%) or home advantage (HA) in professional European basketball. Data were collected from five prestigious professional, national basketball leagues within Europe (Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece and Israel) across 16 regular seasons (2005-2006 to 2020-2021). We conducted comparisons between matches with and without fans, location of leagues, team ability (High, Medium, Low), and combinations of these factors via non-parametric tests (e.g., Mann-Whitney tests, Kruskal-Wallis). We found significantly greater HA during matches with fans for leagues in Germany (p =.001), Italy (p =.012) and Spain (p =.002). For matches with fans, HA and HW% were significantly different between several, but not all, leagues for high (p <.05), medium (p <.05) and low (p <.02) team abilities. In conclusion, HA and HW% were enhanced by spectator attendance, with this phenomenon varying by location/region and team ability. Consideration of these multiple contextual factors may assist coaches and sport organizations to develop key strategies for enhanced team success.
Journal
Perceptual and Motor Skills
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Volume
131
ISBN/ISSN
1558-688X
Edition
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Issue
1
Pages Count
14
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Publisher
Sage
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EISSN
N/A
DOI
10.1177/00315125231215710