How much is home worth?
By EDUARDO A. ENCINA, Times Staff Writer
Published January 5, 2008
TAMPA - The Bucs will sleep in their own beds tonight. They will take the same path to the stadium, dress at the same lockers, run through the same tunnel to the familiar cheers of their home crowd at Raymond James Stadium, above.
With a division title also comes a first-round home game. But Tampa Bay will face a Giants team that is 7-1 on the road, which begs the question heading into Sunday's NFC wild-card game: Is there really such thing as a homefield advantage?
"It's got to be an advantage, but it doesn't give you any guarantees," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "The noise is an advantage. I think anybody would tell you that. But there are some guys who like playing on the road because they like going into your stadium and beating you."
"It brings out the best in them," added Gruden, whose team lost its last home playoff game, 17-10 to the Redskins two years ago, "but I'm not a psychiatrist, you know?"
Scientific proof shown
Studies have shown that playing at home gives athletes a physiological and psychological advantage. Playing at home raises testosterone levels, which helps players perform better.
"It's almost like animal instinct," said Dr. John Brunelle, a psychologist at the University of Delaware. "They're protecting their house."
There's also a comfort level at home, said Dr. Sally A. White, provost and vice president of academic affairs at the College of Notre Dame in Maryland. White chaired a committee on sports medicine and performance for the USOC from 1996 to 2000.
"Most people would agree that there is an advantage to playing at home, and about 90 percent of it is psychological readiness," White said. "Being familiar, comfortable and having a routine makes them more prepared for the physical elements of the game."
Meanwhile, a road team, White said, must overcome the "contextual interference" of playing away from home, which can include crowd noise, weather and even billboards.
Roadfield advantage
Brunelle, who works with athletes to help them overcome homefield advantage, said some teams - especially in fanatical cities like New York and Philadelphia - play better on the road because it's an escape from the hometown pressure.
"The toughest thing is to hear the home crowd boo you," Brunelle said. "On the road you expect it and feed off it."
Giants coach Tom Coughlin said this week that his team has "the feeling that when you're on the road, that's all you have is each other, the idea that it's all for one and one for all."
Brunelle said he finds that keeping the same routine on the road as at home, from practice times to eating times, helps a visiting athlete. He even said he trains athletes to be prepared for bad officiating - studies show there is such thing as a hometown call.
Mixed bag to players
Since the NFL went to two wild-card teams in 1990, home teams hold an advantage. But over the past four postseasons, home teams have won just 60 percent of the time. Last season, visitors won both AFC division playoff games.
"We'd rather play all our games at home," Buc receiver Ike Hilliard said. "There's no question. It's a lot more comfortable. It's our stadium. It's our fans. All those factors help, among other things: staying close to home, not having to travel, jetlag possibilities."
Bucs defensive end Kevin Carter agreed, but added there can be added commotion at home.
"Family, tickets, the holiday season," Carter said. "I think it goes both ways. I think it depends on the team in the situation."
The impact in Vegas
While it's popular belief that oddsmakers take homefield advantage into account when creating point spreads, that's not necessarily the case.
Dr. David G. Schwartz, the Director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV, said oddsmakers tend to rely on statistical trends and weather factors.
"Obviously if Indianapolis is going to play at Foxborough, there's going to be more of a homefield advantage than if Chicago was going to Detroit," Schwartz said. "Keep in mind that they aren't predicting the score of the game. They're trying to divide the betting evenly."
One reason homefield isn't automatic in point spreads is because fans can get information - injuries, weather reports, news - more readily than in the past.
"Bookmakers depend much more on statistics, like what the New York Giants have done in the postseason on the road the past five years."
Eduardo A. Encina can be reached at eencina@sptimes.com