The Effect of COVID-19 on Home Advantage in High-stake Situations: The Case of EURO 20

The current pandemic has changed how we watch sporting events. With the complete or partial absence of fans in stadiums, the advantage that home teams normally enjoy has been considerably reduced. This has confirmed that the home fans’ support is the main cause of the home advantage (HA) phenomenon, where teams perform better in front of their supporters. We still do not know, however, how the reduced attendance impacts games where much more at stake is than is the case in everyday league matches, which were used in previous research. Here we investigate the recently finished European football championship (EURO 20), where several teams enjoyed home advantage in high-stake games with only one third of the stadium filled. We want to demonstrate the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions that resulted in the lower numbers of the fans on the HA by comparing the HA at the EURO 20 with:1) the HA that the same teams possessed in the qualifications leading up to EURO 20, and 2) the HA compared to the previous 15 European championships.