Home advantage in soccer after the break due to COVID-19 pandemic: does crowd support matter?

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of the return of different European leagues and their divisions after the break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, without the crowd support, on home advantage (HA). Data from the first and second divisions of the 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons of the German, Spanish, English and Italian leagues were analysed to obtain overall HA. As 2019/2020 season was interrupted due COVID-19 pandemic, we also calculated the home advantage in a fractional way: phases 1 and 2 played before and after the break, respectively. HA in first division of the German (F3,51 = 4.86, P = .01, ηp2 = 0.22, large) and Italian (F3,57 = 4.50, P = .01, ηp2 = 0.19, large) leagues were lower in 2019/2020 season compared with other seasons. Furthermore, HA decreased in phase 2 in four of the seven leagues and divisions analysed, with no advantage in first and second divisions Germany (45.1 ± 21.3%) and Italy (49.8 ± 18.5%), respectively. A positive correlation (0.82 ± 0.10; P < .01) and significant relationship (R2: 0.69 ± 0.16; SEE: 4.36 ± 0.76; P < .01) were found between HA and team quality for all analysed leagues and divisions during the 2019/2020 season. The findings of the present study reveal that HA was affected in the 2019/2020 season, especially after the break due to the COVID-19 pandemic without crowd support.