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They didn’t know what they got till the crowd was gone

Author

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  • Jan C. van Ours

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam, ECASE, CEPR)

Abstract

This paper revisits the relationship between Covid-19-related absence of stadium attendance and match outcomes, analyzing five seasons of the top tier of professional football in the Netherlands. Empty stadiums caused home advantages to disappear completely due to home teams scoring fewer goals. Additionally, in empty stadiums, away teams received fewer yellow cards. This persisted even when stadiums were filled to a maximum of one-third of their capacity. Under these circumstances, there were no effects on team performance. Thus, it is improbable that referee decisions were the intermediary factor influencing team performance. Players of home teams appear to have been directly and adversely affected by the absence of stadium crowds.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan C. van Ours, 2024. "They didn’t know what they got till the crowd was gone," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-014/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jan C van Ours, 2021. "Common international trends in football stadium attendance," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Carl Singleton & J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer, 2023. "A decade of violence and empty stadiums in Egypt: when does emotion from the terraces affect behaviour on the pitch?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 1487-1507, September.
    3. Pettersson-Lidbom, Per & Priks, Mikael, 2010. "Behavior under social pressure: Empty Italian stadiums and referee bias," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 212-214, August.
    4. Pascal Flurin Meier & Raphael Flepp & Egon Franck, 2021. "Are sports betting markets semistrong efficient? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Working Papers 387, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    5. Ferraresi, Massimiliano & Gucciardi, Gianluca, 2021. "Who chokes on a penalty kick? Social environment and individual performance during Covid-19 times," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    6. J. James Reade & Dominik Schreyer & Carl Singleton, 2022. "Eliminating supportive crowds reduces referee bias," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1416-1436, July.
    7. Kai Fischer & Justus Haucap, 2021. "Does Crowd Support Drive the Home Advantage in Professional Football? Evidence from German Ghost Games during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(8), pages 982-1008, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jan C. van Ours, 2024. "Non-Transitive Patterns in Long-Term Football Rivalries," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-031/V, Tinbergen Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Home advantage; professional football; Covid-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • Z20 - Other Special Topics - - Sports Economics - - - General

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