Does Cold Weather Really Make a Difference?

[rmontro]

Did you know Green Bay has the highest home field winning percentage all time in the NFL? During the regular season anyway.

 

[Forget Favre]

It used to but not anymore.

Every playoff game in Jan. the announcers, no matter what network, must be talking about it for like 15-20 min. or more total.
I guess that is because for now GB is the coldest place they play football.
There really are no other midstates teams with outdoor venues that are in the playoffs at that time.

 

[Forget Favre]

I spent a few years living in northern Vermont, not far from the Canadian border. The weather there is quite similar to Green Bay, and I can certainly attest that you do get acclimated to the weather over time. A 30 degree day in February can even feel balmy.

But everything I've seen about cold weather being an advantage for the home team is anecdotal. I'm still wondering if there is any hard data to support the conventional wisdom.

I think you have to do what you started in the OP.
Take a look at warm weather teams and ours and the results of those games and see which ones have won the most.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Take a look at warm weather teams and ours and the results of those games and see which ones have won the most.

I have said this a few times to other posters, this whole notion of "if the home team has the advantage, they win the game", is not true at all. What the home team does have though is an advantage that might influence the final score, not necessarily whether they win or lose.

Yes, the ultimate stat is W's and L's but if the Jaguars lose by 1 point to the Rams in Jacksonville, does that automatically throw out the fact that the home team had an advantage? No, it just means the advantage wasn't big enough to offset the difference in levels of play between the 2 teams.

I will take it one step further. If you have the wind advantage in the first Quarter, does this mean you should out perform your opponent in that quarter?

So please stop saying things like "there is no advantage to playing at home, because half the visiting teams won road games this week."

 

[swhitset]

I have said this a few times to other posters, this whole notion of "if the home team has the advantage, they win the game", is not true at all. What the home team does have though is an advantage that might influence the final score, not necessarily whether they win or lose.

Yes, the ultimate stat is W's and L's but if the Jaguars lose by 1 point to the Rams in Jacksonville, does that automatically throw out the fact that the home team had an advantage? No, it just means the advantage wasn't big enough to offset the difference in levels of play between the 2 teams.

I will take it one step further. If you have the wind advantage in the first Quarter, does this mean you should out perform your opponent in that quarter?

So please stop saying things like "there is no advantage to playing at home, because half the visiting teams won road games this week."

Not sure why this is so hard to understand… but then again I guess I do get it. There is a very large group of posters in here that only deal in absolutes and don‘t appear to be capable of understanding the complexities in most situations.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Not sure why this is so hard to understand… but then again I guess I do get it. There is a very large group of posters in here that only deal in absolutes and don‘t appear to be capable of understanding the complexities in most situations.

The media usually gets it wrong too when they speak of home field advantage in terms of Wins and Losses, so I get why fans are confused. Now Vegas and odds makers, they understand it and reflect it in the spread of the game.

 

[Forget Favre]

I have said this a few times to other posters, this whole notion of "if the home team has the advantage, they win the game", is not true at all. What the home team does have though is an advantage that might influence the final score, not necessarily whether they win or lose.

Yes, the ultimate stat is W's and L's but if the Jaguars lose by 1 point to the Rams in Jacksonville, does that automatically throw out the fact that the home team had an advantage? No, it just means the advantage wasn't big enough to offset the difference in levels of play between the 2 teams.

I will take it one step further. If you have the wind advantage in the first Quarter, does this mean you should out perform your opponent in that quarter?

So please stop saying things like "there is no advantage to playing at home, because half the visiting teams won road games this week."

I wonder what would happen if the NFL started treating playoff games the way the NCAA does for March Madness. Move the games to neutral locations to be played.
Maybe we would win in those venues?
Well, that ain't gonna happen so Packers got to figure out how to win at Lambeau.

Funny at how last time they went to the SB all those playoff wins were road.
So maybe they should lose enough games for no home playoffs but in it anyway?
(Kidding. Sort of.)

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I wonder what would happen if the NFL started treating playoff games the way the NCAA does for March Madness. Move the games to neutral locations to be played.
Maybe we would win in those venues?
Well, that ain't gonna happen so Packers got to figure out how to win at Lambeau.

Funny at how last time they went to the SB all those playoff wins were road.
So maybe they should lose enough games for no home playoffs but in it anyway?
(Kidding. Sort of.)

Well, the Super Bowl is always at a Neutral site.

If the NFL thought they could make more money, by having the Playoffs at neutral sites each year, it wouldn't surprise me if they did it. Would I like the idea? No. Playoffs are what many fans seem to live for. With the cheapest price of a SB ticket being $5,726 and the average ticket price being $10,347, I would never go to a Packer Playoff game.

 

[swhitset]

Technically no. It is played in a predetermined stadium. It definitely wasn’t neutral last year when the Bucs got to play it at home.

 

[Forget Favre]

Technically no. It is played in a predetermined stadium. It definitely wasn’t neutral last year when the Bucs got to play it at home.

And it might be a home game for the Rams this year.

 

[swhitset]

And it might be a home game for the Rams this year.

yep