Why Is There Home Field Advantage? (Quick Version)

I love to poop. I love to read while I poop. So other day I was reading Sports Illustrated while throwing a curveball and there was a great article by Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim in it explaining why home field advantage exists (Although not for the 2010 Miami Dolphins).

No matter what sport you are looking at whether it's Premier League soccer or minor league baseball, a home field advantage exists. In fact, the home field advantage percentage it's essentially similar between sports as well (e.g. the NBA and WNBA; European soccer and the MLS).

It's not because of the crowd or the way stadiums are set up or anything like that.

The reason for home field advantage: the referees.

I won't go into full details right now, but the authors looked into things that solely the referees can control. They first looked at stoppage time in soccer and found a distinct advantage towards the home team. They then looked at MLB (with the help of DME's dominatrix Tom Tango) at called balls and strikes and also found a strong home field advantage. The authors next looked to the NFL with challenges and penalties. And again, found a clear cut home field advantage.

So as much as I still want computers calling balls and strikes in baseball and so that we can make it official that Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game, those douchebags in the black and white who can never get a call right (haha that rhymes) serve a great purpose after all. See: Calvin Johnson's TD "catch" in Week One at Chicago.