Home Ground Advantage Guide
There are many discussions that have taken place over the years as to why sports teams seem to perform better when they play at home, but the question as to whether home ground advantage exists is one that people have ceased to ask.
There are a few factors that are disputed, of course, but in general, it has been noted that teams tend to be aided by the psychological lift that the sizable home crowd while the opposing team’s morale decreases.
What’s more, being familiar with the playing grounds, less time spent travelling and the comfort of their very own beds can directly affect a player’s, and therefore team’s, performance.
Home Ground Advantage in Betting
Regardless of the factors, there is something of a home bias in each and every sport, with different ways to work out the size of the edge in general and for teams in particular and the possibility to use the calculations across a number of leagues and sports.
One way to define an edge is by focusing purely on a number of overall wins a team has achieved, while the other is to pay attention to the number of goals, points or runs that a team has managed to score.
Winning Edge
By doing a couple of simple calculations, New Zealand punters are able to quantify the effect that a home advantage had on a season by adding up the number of home wins, as well as the home draws and away losses.
The number of home wins is generally higher than away wins, proving the existence of home ground advantage. If the number of wins at home and number of away wins are calculated as a percentage, players will have an idea of their chances of winning the next home or away game.
Goals, Points or Runs Edge
Another way to put a formula to home advantage is by taking a look at the number of goals, points or runs that have been scored at home in comparison to those that have been scored away.
By adding the overall number of goals scored at home during the season, punters can then divide that number by the number of games in the season to figure out how many goals should be scored per home game, and the same goes for away goals.
The number of home goals per game over the number of expected goals will also give punters an idea as to how many more goals than expected will be scored at home or away.
The Betting Edge
When it comes to just about any form of live online sports betting in New Zealand, determining a home ground advantage will give far greater insight into the sport that a punter wishes to bet on, not to mention an advantage on the run-of-the-mill punters.
In some cases, having the ability to utilise the calculations that were mentioned above can even give punters a head start on their chosen online sportsbook, particularly with some of the lesser known leagues and sports.
