It is widely acknowledged that the presence of fans significantly affects the outcome of a เกมการพนันบาคาร่า. Their support spurs home players to better performance and biases referee decisions in favor of the home team. In addition, fans engage in a range of superstitious behaviors, which provide them with a sense of control, reduce uncertainty and stress levels, and reinforce the sense of loyalty and belonging to their team.

A typical fan ritual involves wearing a lucky shirt or following a specific routine before a game, and even consuming two pies just before kick-off, to boost their energy and generate an emotionally charged atmosphere for the match. The raucous noise created by a large crowd also deafens opposing teams and can result in defensive mistakes. The fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced spectators to stay away from football matches offers a unique opportunity to analyze how the absence of fans influences the game.

Roar of the Crowd: Understanding the Influence of Fans on Football Matches

We examine how the goal difference between home and away teams changes in a game without spectators using instrumental variable estimation. We find that the home-field advantage decreases significantly in a match without fans, with the simple shift of the probability mass from a higher home win to a lower home win corresponding to an average increase in the number of goals scored by the away team. This finding is mainly driven by an increase in the frequency of the away team scoring, and less so by a decrease in the home team’s shooting accuracy or sprint distances.