Is Home Advantage Diminished When Competing Without Spectators? Evidence From the Israeli Football and Basketball Leagues

Abstract Sports spectators are one of the factors that affect home advantage. The outbreak COVID-19 pandemic created unique conditions under which most leagues in world played matches without crowds for over six months. This situation facilitated an analytical comparison two different periods: before and during coronavirus pandemic. current study sought to examine advantage Israeli sport domain general, specifically impact absence a crowd. consisted 4,030 Israel’s top football basketball leagues, 3,589 took place with from August 2015 March 2020, while others were held May 2020 February 2021. Descriptive analyses variance procedures indicated independent crowd size, density, geographic region, league level, type sport. However, higher-quality teams demonstrated higher ratio goals conceded. findings indicate context, plays less role than other potential factors.