No Home Bias in Ghost Games

Because of the COVID-19-pandemic the men’s first German football league (Bundesliga) had to take a break before it was permitted to finish the season 2019/20. However, only ghost games without spectators in the stadiums were allowed in this finishing phase. Comparing these 83 games without spectators with the corresponding 83 regular games between the same teams with spectators before, we find that the normal advantage for the home team disappears. There were 48.2% home wins with spectators and only 32.5% without. This decrease is statistically significant. There were 32.5% away wins before the break and 44.6% thereafter, while the draws increased from 19.3% to 22.9%. However, these increases are not statistically significant. One reason for the lost home advantage is the disappearance of a home bias by the referees, who gave significantly less extra time and also less yellow and red cards to the away team