Television match officials,referees, and home advantage: Evidence from the European Rugby Cup |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom;2. Compecon Limited, 37 Willowbank Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin, D14 HW70, Ireland;3. Sport Management and Sociology Group School of Sport and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, United Kingdom;1. Nichols College, Conant Hall, 405, 129 Center Rd, Dudley, MA 01571, United States;2. Trinity University, 1 Trinity Pl, San Antonio, TX 78212, United States;1. Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management, University of Florida, Florida Gym 304, P.O. Box 118208, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA;2. School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University, 1810 N. 13th Street Speakman Hall, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA;1. School of Education and Human Performance, Aurora University, 347 S. Gladstone Ave., Aurora, IL 60506-4892;2. School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon Allen Hall, Eugene, OR 97403;3. Department of Management, G. Brint Ryan College of Business, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203;1. Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, Spinnaker Building, Cambridge Road, Portsmouth PO1 2ER, United Kingdom;2. Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;3. Research Centre for Exercise, School and Sport, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Zwolle, The Netherlands;4. Université Clermont Auvergne, Laboratoire ACTé EA 4281, Clermont-Ferrand, France;1. University of Agder, Norway;2. Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norway |
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| Abstract: | The regulation of on-field competition by officials is an important aspect of the management of sport. Increasingly, sports are providing technological support for officials to aid their decision making. In this paper, the authors analyse the impact of such an innovation by exploring the impact of the introduction and subsequent extended role of the television match official on the award of sanctionable offences of players in matches played in the group stages of the European Rugby Cup (ERC) and European Rugby Champions Cup (ERCC) over 15 seasons from 2000/01 to 2015/16. Rugby Union is an important sport to reflect upon because of the central role that the referee plays in rule interpretation and game management and the level of home advantage tends to be relatively high in the sport. Indeed, 65% of all matches in the sample analysed resulted in home wins. Results suggest that crowd effects and referee experience influence referee decisions, but the effects vary depending on the type of incident being considered. The main finding and contribution of the paper is that the introduction of the television match official has influenced the incidence of sanctions issued to both teams. However, the increase in the number of yellow cards awarded to away teams implies that home bias has increased since the introduction of the television match official. This suggests that referees may have been consciously or unconsciously seeking to avoid contributing to home bias before the introduction of a further official who is remote from the effects of the crowd. Recognising that such an adjustment takes place according to the circumstances is important information for the training of officials; particularly as a television match official may not be present in all games that they will referee. |
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| Keywords: | Team sports Home advantage Favouritism Competition Performance |
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