Introduction This study aimed to: (1) analyse and compare home advantage (HA) and home winning percentage (HW) in the main top European women's handball leagues over the last four seasons; and (2) examine the impact of team level on these indicators to identify patterns of competitive performance. Methods A total of 4,744 matches were analysed from the first divisions of France (Starligue), Germany (Bundesliga), Spain (Guerreras Iberdrola), Norway (REMA 1000), Hungary (NB I), Romania (Liga Natională) and Denmark (Kvindeligaen). Each team-season was classified by hierarchical cluster as High-Level Team (HLT), Medium-Level Team (MLT), or Low-Level Team (LLT). HA and HW were calculated and statistically compared between leagues and team levels. Results It has been found that HA and HW were observed across all leagues, showing consistent presence but no significant inter-league differences, suggesting that the phenomenon is similarly manifested across European elite women's handball ( F 6,359 = 1.55; p = 0.162; η p 2 = 0.025; small) and HW ( F 6,359 = 0.95; p = 0.459; η p 2 = 0.016; small). Also, showed clear disparities by team level: HLTs outperformed MLTs and LLTs in both indicators ( F 2,359 = 11.79; p 0.001; η p 2 = 0.062; large) and HW ( F 2,359 = 532.35; p 0.001; η p 2 = 0.748; large), with all levels differing. Interaction effects were minimal, limited to HA for LLTs, where Germany displayed lower values than Spain and Norway, while intra-league analyses confirmed consistent team-level differences in both HA and HW. Conclusion Overall, HA and HW were evident in all seven leagues, suggesting that home advantage is a common phenomenon in elite women's handball, while the competitive level of the opponent exerts a significant influence on performance across leagues.
Nieto et al. (Fri,) studied this question.