2010 RULES: Bowl Home Field Advantage

[Goodell]

There was some discussion -- at least in one league -- about the home/away designation for the league super bowl. From the beginning the sim has always required a home and away team to be listed and the sim scripts giving some slight advantages to home teams for some random events (such as penalties or first down measurements or sacks).

It's currently not a huge advantage -- maybe demonstrated best by two out of three away teams winning their league championship this year, and at least one of the away teams also last year.

If we had neutral site setting we'd likely just rotate home/away between conferences as they do in reality, but while there are some home field edges now we try to give those fairly by tie-breaker.

My time will probably decide what can be done here, but wondering if the league views it as a priority to have a neutral site setting -- despite it probably only being used in one game a year per league.

Or maybe more... there are now regular season games outside the country. I belive my Broncos are playing in London next October. If we develop a neutral site setting, should "home teams" at those foreign games have their home field advantage taken away for that game at a neutral site and give neither team any home field edge?

Should home field advantages be strengthened or weakened generally? With time perhaps we can do a bigger statistical analysis of our sim home team records versus reality over the years, although that's complicated with roster and strength of schedule differences perhaps when looking team to team.

For me, perhaps ideal to strengthen home field advantage generally but also have that neutral site setting so it didn't impact the bowl game where there really isn't a home field most of the time.

Another interesting thing that could come up in the next few seasons is the super bowl location. I think it'll be in Indy and Dallas and New Orleans in the coming years. With all those teams pretty competitive now, there's a chance someone might be playing a super bowl in their back yard. Do you think that would translate into a bigger home field advantage in reality? And if so should we care about that at all, like if our sim Indy team played in our sim super bowl the same year it was hosted in Indy should we give them a home field advantage boost no matter any tie-breakers or neutral site settings in recognition of the local fan support more? I tend to say we shouldn't but want to throw some of these championship game home field issues out there to see what others think.

[John W.]

This list combines all 3 AFFL seasons and compares all regular season games to all regular season home games.

Code: Select all

City Team -        Overall % (W-L-T)   - Home % (W-L-T)      Diff
Atlanta Falcons -      0.573 (26-19-3) - 0.708 (16-6-2)      +13.54%
Cleveland Browns -     0.573 (27-20-1) - 0.708 (17-7-0)      +13.54%
Carolina Panthers -    0.344 (16-31-1) - 0.479 (11-12-1)     +13.54%
Houston Texans -       0.469 (22-25-1) - 0.604 (14-9-1)      +13.54%
New England Patriots - 0.750 (36-12-0) - 0.875 (21-3-0)      +12.5%
Oakland Raiders -      0.542 (26-22-0) - 0.667 (16-8-0)      +12.5%
San Francisco 49ers -  0.375 (18-30-0) - 0.500 (12-12-0)     +12.5%
Denver Broncos -       0.208 (10-38-0) - 0.333 (8-16-0)      +12.5%
Minnesota Vikings -    0.479 (23-25-0) - 0.583 (14-10-0)     +10.42%
New York Jets -        0.313 (15-33-0) - 0.417 (10-14-0)     +10.42%
Detroit Lions -        0.104 (5-43-0)  - 0.208 (5-19-0)      +10.42%
Chicago Bears -        0.563 (27-21-0) - 0.667 (16-8-0)      +10.42%
Washington Redskins -  0.531 (25-22-1) - 0.625 (15-9-0)      +9.38%
Seattle Seahawks -     0.292 (14-34-0) - 0.375 (9-15-0)      +8.33%
Buffalo Bills -        0.708 (34-14-0) - 0.792 (19-5-0)      +8.33%
Indianapolis Colts -   0.729 (34-12-2) - 0.792 (19-5-0)      +6.25%
New York Giants -      0.729 (35-13-0) - 0.792 (19-5-0)      +6.25%
Philadelphia Eagles -  0.542 (26-22-0) - 0.583 (14-10-0)     +4.17%
St Louis Rams -        0.375 (18-30-0) - 0.417 (10-14-0)     +4.17%
Pittsburg Steelers -   0.625 (30-18-0) - 0.667 (16-8-0)      +4.17%
Arizona Cardinals -    0.698 (33-14-1) - 0.729 (17-6-1)      +3.13%
Cincinnati Bengals -   0.406 (19-28-1) - 0.438 (10-13-1)     +3.13%
Baltimore Ravens -     0.729 (35-13-0) - 0.750 (18-6-0)      +2.08%
Dallas Cowboys -       0.563 (27-21-0) - 0.583 (14-10-0)     +2.08%
San Diego Chargers -   0.823 (39-8-1)  - 0.833 (20-4-0)      +1.04%
Miami Dolphins -       0.302 (14-33-1) - 0.313 (7-16-1)      +1.04%
Tampa Bay Bucaneers -  0.448 (21-26-1) - 0.438 (10-13-1)     -1.04%
Tennessee Titans -     0.729 (34-12-2) - 0.688 (16-7-1)      -4.17%
Green Bay Packers -    0.708 (34-14-0) - 0.667 (16-8-0)      -4.17%
New Orleans Saints -   0.469 (22-25-1) - 0.417 (10-14-0)     -5.21%
Kansas City Chiefs -   0.156 (7-40-1)  - 0.063 (1-22-1)      -9.38%
Jacksonville Jaguars - 0.146 (6-40-2)  - 0.042 (1-23-0)      -10.42%

[John W.]

I just wanted to add that I voted to keep things the way they are unless it is a reltively easy fix to remove home field advantage from the Super Bowl and foreign games. I would not vote to give Indy home field advantage if the Super Bowl were in Indy though because I think that the event is much more of a national event and the stands aren't necessarily overloaded with the home team fans.

[Goodell]

I would not vote to give Indy home field advantage if the Super Bowl were in Indy though because I think that the event is much more of a national event and the stands aren't necessarily overloaded with the home team fans.

Yeah I agree. It surprised me that there was so much support the other way and curious as to get more reasons for opinions posted as we talk through possible changes. Maybe because it's a new idea we haven't really looked at before people initially think perhaps a cool twist? But need the discussion to get deeper into pros and cons of these supported possible changes and really hash them out before implementing.

[Goodell]

The concensus from the home field polls to me seems to lean toward recognizing reality in home field advantages.

- We'll try to get in a neutral site for super bowls.
- We'll try to strengthen home field in the sim generally.
- We'll also use a neutral site setting (if available) for games on foreign soil in reality where there really isn't a home field even if one team designated home team.
- Kind of surprising to me, but by 13 to 5 vote we'll recognize the real host city in the super bowl and if our sim team from that same city makes that big game we'll designate them home team (instead of neutral site setting otherwise).

[Dustin S.]

isnt that a little unfair to teams who play in cold weather cities? only teams in the south and domes can get home field in the bowl if it is the real site? why was that even an option

[Goodell]

isnt that a little unfair to teams who play in cold weather cities? only teams in the south and domes can get home field in the bowl if it is the real site? why was that even an option

It didn't get my vote and kind of surprised about the support there, but if there are going to be any advantages in any way to either the Colts, Cowboys, or Saints in reality if their competitive team makes it to a hosted super bowl (which arguably would not be quite fair in reality either) I could see an arguement for us trying to reflect that reality also if our situation turned out the same.

In a way, even though I don't support some of that, all together they do lead toward more reflection of the real situations. Not really fair for one team to have less home games, but if a real team travels to London they miss a home game in reality too. So don't like all the supported options but in a way they kind of work together (in my mind anyway) as consistently trying to bring in more reality elements.