Is there no place like home? home-court advantage and home win percentage vary according to team sex and ability in Spanish basketball

ABSTRACT

To compare the extent of home-court advantage (HA) and home win percentage (HW) based on sex and team ability in Spanish basketball leagues. Data from the first divisions of male and female basketball over 12 seasons (2010-2023) were analyzed. HA (%) was calculated as (total home wins/total wins) * 100 and HW (%) as (total home wins/total home games) * 100. Teams were categorized into higher-and lower-ability based on their season win percentage using cluster analyses. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare HA and HW between sexes and team ability clusters. Results showed that males exhibited higher HA and HW compared to females (p < 0.05). Additionally, males had higher HA than females within both higher- and lower-ability teams (p < 0.05) and higher HW only within lower-ability teams (p < 0.001). Lower-ability teams had higher HA than higher-ability teams (p < 0.001). while higher-ability teams had higher HW (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that team sex and ability significantly influence HA and HW effects in Spanish basketball leagues. Female teams demonstrate a more even distribution of wins between home and away venues, while lower-ability teams rely more on home games for wins. Understanding these effects can aid in developing strategies tailored to sex and ability among Spanish basketball teams.

KEYWORDS:

• Game location
• women
• sex
• gender
• team sport
• Europe

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).