Empty and reduced-capacity stadiums seem to be eliminating home-field advantage in the NFL this season.
The season is almost half over, and so far this season there’s been almost no home-field advantage at all: Home teams have won just one more game than road teams.
The easiest explanation is that home crowds are an advantage: It’s harder for the visiting team’s quarterback to call signals on a big third down when 80,000 fans are screaming at the tops of their lungs, but this season no stadium has 80,000 fans, or anything close to that.
It’s also possible that other factors are involved -- and that the lack of home-field advantage so far this season won’t continue over the second half of the season. But for now, it appears that the COVID-19 pandemic has made a real impact on the season by taking away the advantage of playing at home.
