ES: History shows Redskins have no home-field advantage at FedEx Field

[Timmy Smith]

It's an interesting study, but it has nothing to do with the stadium, the parking situation, the jumbotron, the concessions, or Dan Snyder. We only had an advantage at RFK when the team was actually good. Shanny's home struggles are weird to an extent, but again his teams have gone 6-10 and 5-11; hard to be impressive at home when you lose double digit games every year.

Yeah exactly. We've been a lame franchise for a while now, so of course we'll have a correspondingly lame home record. Other lame franchises have the same stats. We're still better at home than we are on the road, though, which means that we still get an "advantage" playing at home.

Here's to a brighter future and many home-winning-record seasons with Griffin at the helm.

[Rodriggo]

Because FedEx is a life-less dump.

One of the great what-ifs for me is "what if the Skins had never left RFK?"

Maybe that 97 team goes 9-7 or 10-6 and makes the playoffs two years early....maybe that 99' team gets the second seed.

Maybe the 05 team gets the second seed too....just have the sneaking suspicion that this team would have been better off.

Can't argue that RFK has a monumental "home field advantage" advantage over FedEx Field.

[Warhead36]

I bet the Redskin fans are almost as loud on offense as they are on defense, the entire season.

Wouldn't shock me. We have some of the dumbest fans in sports. I cringe every time our own crowd screams so loud when we have the ball that we have to burn timeouts.

[Mr. Sinister]

Good read. Not surprising though. I actually thought our overall record there would be a little worse. Lots of painful memories of losses at FedEx.

[derskinsfan]

The quality of the fans will definitely improve as the team gets better. Fewer no-shows, less fans dumping their tickets to rival fans, less "there's not much hope here so let's just drink and get rowdy," etc.

But, the one fact that won't change is that it's a really big stadium. You just get a lot more of everything at a big stadium: good and bad.

[Redskins Ruckus]

The quality of the fan will improve with the quality of the team.

Give it time, soon the miscreants will be gone from FedEx field.

Quoted for emphasis.

[greenspandan]

if you are attempting to guage to what effect being at home improves the team, then the win-loss record at home for each season only has meaning when compared to the road record that same year. is the percentage higher or lower? everyone knows we've been a bad team over that span. the "home field advantage" question should be comparing our home record to our away record -- that would be the only way to meaningfully measure whether the skins have a home field advantage or not. simply listing our home record over a span everyone knows was poor doesn't tell us anything about home field advantage.

edit: someone pointed out above that our road record over the same span is 46-76, much worse than our home record, which means the redskins HAVE enjoyed a rather significant home field advantage at FedEx.

[Popeman38]

Because FedEx is a life-less dump.

One of the great what-ifs for me is "what if the Skins had never left RFK?"

Maybe that 97 team goes 9-7 or 10-6 and makes the playoffs two years early....maybe that 99' team gets the second seed.

Maybe the 05 team gets the second seed too....just have the sneaking suspicion that this team would have been better off.

Can't argue that RFK has a monumental "home field advantage" advantage over FedEx Field.

What if we had never left RFK? Seriously? RFK holds 55K for football. We would have the smallest stadium in the league. RFK has nowhere to put a jumbotron, much less 2. RFK has no club level. RFK has no luxury boxes. It has suites, though they barely qualify. RFK has room for about 15K to tailgate. RFKs concourses are TINY. RFK has 1 bathroom for every 4 sections -- LONG lines. RFK has horrible end zone sightlines. RFK has tiny, cramped locker rooms. RFK was a DUMP -- except when the Skins were winning. Because they won in RFK, there is this illusion that it was a marvelous football stadium. It SUCKED. I went to watch the MD-ECU Military Bowl. The stadium was about half full, and you literally couldn't move on the concourse at half.

If we still played in RFK, we would effectively be a small market team. No club revenue, no suite revenue, no jumbotrons to watch replays on, cramped conditions for the fans, long lines for concessions and bathrooms. RFK is a stadium for a bygone era - the Redskins would be WORSE off if they still played there. As a fan base, we need to let go of our romanticized memories of RFK. They are memories, and good ones at that, but this board would break if fans had to experience a stadium like RFK 10 times per year.

FedEx Field was built in 1997. 15 years old. There is room for EVERYONE to tailgate, a metro stop close enough to walk to (come on, argue that Stadium Armory is sooo convenient for RFK; it MIGHT be 5 minutes less of a walk from RFK than Morgan BLVD is from FedEx), and easy access in and out IF you take the time to plan your route. There are new HD jumbotrons, Snyder removed seats, brand new HD ribbon boards on the club facade, club section and UL SRO now, club seating, loge seating, and suites. Club, loge & suites are how teams make money without having to share. The concourses are wide open, there are plenty of ramps up and down (and some stairs too!), an escalator to both the club and the UL. Yes, it is a bowl. Yes, it was built fast. But it is ours. The city doesn't own it, the NFL doesn't own a piece. The team owns the land and the stadium. You've had 15 years to get used to it and MAKE it our home. If you haven't yet, that's on you. I personally hope we play in FedEx for the next 20 years.

[SkinsCrushCowboys]

I always love the opportunity to post the "lets move back to RFK comment ... . ... 173–102–3 record, including 11–1 in the playoffs......now thats a home field advantge!

[themurf]

if you are attempting to guage to what effect being at home improves the team, then the win-loss record at home for each season only has meaning when compared to the road record that same year. is the percentage higher or lower? everyone knows we've been a bad team over that span. the "home field advantage" question should be comparing our home record to our away record -- that would be the only way to meaningfully measure whether the skins have a home field advantage or not. simply listing our home record over a span everyone knows was poor doesn't tell us anything about home field advantage.

edit: someone pointed out above that our road record over the same span is 46-76, much worse than our home record, which means the redskins HAVE enjoyed a rather significant home field advantage at FedEx.

Why do I need to take into account any other numbers than 59-60-1? Even if they didn't play another game anywhere else in the last 15 years, that's a terrible record for YOUR home venue.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

I always love the opportunity to post the "lets move back to RFK comment ... . ... 173–102–3 record, including 11–1 in the playoffs......now thats a home field advantge!

If we hadn't sucked so bad the last 10-15 years we could have a record like that. I think it has a lot more to do with the players than it does the Stadium. Hopefully we can turn it around b/c if we could get 70-80k people in there being loud it would be a MAJOR advantage...

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

For people to say we have a home-field advantage just because our woeful road record is more woeful than our woeful home record is taking fan license and stretching it to the extreme and then some.

A 60-60-1 record at FedEx, including the whopping ONE playoff win, is NOT a home-field advantage. It's a mediocre disgrace.

And to say we've had piss poor teams so we should expect it is a lame ass excuse on our behalf, the fans. So y'all just expect to sit back and be entertained huh before you get involved, and screw them if the products not upto scratch? No question the product has been the equal of any league bottom dweller over the duration, but we could still of made FedEx a FAR more intimidating place for opposing teams to play. Which in turn may well of inspired that lack of talent to play above themselves and improve the home record. But in many games, we've not played our part either.

It's a two way street. And the fans have equally as big a part to play in a home-field advantage as the players. The longer people bury their heads in the sand on that, the longer it will continue. Regardless of improved talent on the field.

Hail.

[SkinsCrushCowboys]

If we hadn't sucked so bad the last 10-15 years we could have a record like that. I think it has a lot more to do with the players than it does the Stadium. Hopefully we can turn it around b/c if we could get 70-80k people in there being loud it would be a MAJOR advantage...

old farts like me can tell you that 50k at RFK was louder than any crowd at Fed Ex has ever been. But you are absolutely correct, we had a lot to cheer about! Hopefully we are close to getting that back and can rock Fed Ex soon!

[Henry]

For people to say we have a home-field advantage just because our woeful road record is more woeful than our woeful home record is taking fan license and stretching it to the extreme and then some.

A 60-60-1 record at FedEx, including the whopping ONE playoff win, is NOT a home-field advantage. It's a mediocre disgrace.

And to say we've had piss poor teams so we should expect it is a lame ass excuse on our behalf, the fans. So y'all just expect to sit back and be entertained huh before you get involved, and screw them if the products not upto scratch? No question the product has been the equal of any league bottom dweller over the duration, but we could still of made FedEx a FAR more intimidating place for opposing teams to play. Which in turn may well of inspired that lack of talent to play above themselves and improve the home record. But in many games, we've not played our part either.

It's a two way street. And the fans have equally as big a part to play in a home-field advantage as the players. The longer people bury their heads in the sand on that, the longer it will continue. Regardless of improved talent on the field.

Hail.

I'm sorry. Are you ... blaming the fans for the fact that the team chronically sucks?

That's crap. I've got a cold today and I'm hopped up on meds so forgive my bluntness, but that's complete and utter nonsense.

The fact is that over the lifetime of FedEx Field the team has been better at home than it has been on the road. Significantly better. That's not an excuse or an attempt to justify sitting and not cheering for crappy play. It's a fact.

And sorry if you think it's lame, but goddamit if the Redskins expect the fans to give a crap about them, they need to start acting like they give a crap about the fans. Playing like **** for 20 years and giving fans one of the worst stadium experiences in the league on top of it is probably not the way to go about that. At least we give them an even chance to win at home, which is far better than they've done without us.

I was fine merely pointing out that we do, in fact, provide a homefield advantage for our team and it's just hard to see because the team sucks. But can't believe someone would actually have the gall to blame the fans for the steaming pile of crap we've had to watch while we're there for the past two decades. That's just unreal.

[greenspandan]

Why do I need to take into account any other numbers than 59-60-1? Even if they didn't play another game anywhere else in the last 15 years, that's a terrible record for YOUR home venue.

if you want to argue that the team has been terrible over the last 15 years, nobody's going to disagree. but if you want to figure out whether or not the redskins have enjoyed a home field advantage, you must look at it logically: the fact that they were far worse in other venues shows that they are better at home than they are away. that means there's an advantage to playing at home. i don't know what other criteria could be considered "home field advantage".

[skinfan2k]

this is a result of our team being awful. Of course history shows there is no homefield advantage.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Not sure where you got that inference from Henry. I wasn't blaming the fans for the team sucking almost constantly for over two decades.

But I sure as Hell stand by slamming fans for using the poor standard of the team to excuse their own lack of efforts. It's a two way street. WE could of made FedEx a FAR more intimidating place for opposing teams to visit. And in turn, the team might of responded that little bit harder and improved the home record. It's all well and good saying the product needs to improve for the fans to get behind it. But that cuts both ways. We should also be inspiring them. That's kind of the whole ethos of 'support.' If you refuse to accept that, your a customer and not a fan IMHO.

And to continue to say that we have a home field advantage because our woeful home record is slightly better than our woeful road record is stretching things to the extreme. Or to use your words, 'complete and utter nonsense.' Strictly speaking, your right in terms of numbers. But in reality, your talking utter nonsense to say that a .500 home record over 121 games is a home-field advantage.

It's utterly disgraceful mediocrity. And the blame lies in more areas than just the product on the field. A game that springs instantly to mind from recent memory was the Giants opener last year. That place was ROCKING. And the players responded and could well be argued played above themselves. Along with the Giants making mistake after mistake. In large part due to the noise. The rest of the year, not so much. Why could we raise ourselves for the opener, and not the other 7 games to the same degree?

If you can't, or rather refuse, to see the part the fans play in making a home stadium and intimidating place to visit, regardless of what the quality of the team is, I can't help you. And FedEx will continue to be just A N Other stadium whilst that attitude prevails.

Hail.

[JoeSkins]

I remember Colin Cowherd on ESPN once talking about how people only seem talk about home field advantage when the teams themselves are good. Also, Jason Sehorn said on a recent episode of College Football Daily that the trouble with road games is having to travel, sleep in a hotel room, and break your normal routine. Crowd noise and its impact on the field is overrated by fans who want to be an active participant in their favorite team's success.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

..... Fan participation and its impact on the field is overrated by fans who want to be an active participant in their favorite team's success.

So why even bother to attend Joe? If fan participation has little effect on the actual game, why bother paying good money to attend games to start with? I mean you may as well sit home in comfort if that's the case surely?

Hail.

[Henry]

GHH are you suggesting the place wasn't rocking last year when the team returned from St. Louis with a 3-1 record? That the fans somehow provided a complacent atmosphere that led to Grossman throwing 4 INTs and Torain to average 2.2 yards a carry? Was the fans 'not rocking' what contributed to Spiral of Doom that always seems to hit this team sometime around week five?

Sorry. I stick with my initial assessment. Complete and utter nonsense.

And to say that an additional .125 one's winning percentage is 'slight' is stretching things to the extreme. The team is better at home than on the road. That is the very definition of home field advantage.

[JoeSkins]

So why even bother to attend Joe? If fan participation has little effect on the actual game, why bother paying good money to attend games to start with? I mean you may as well sit home in comfort if that's the case surely?

Hail.

The same reason that people go to concerts, because musicians certainly don't play any better with fans around. You go because you want to be there and experience it in person, not because you think you're improving the team.

Edit: I should probably not say "you," though, when I'm talking about me, haha...I don't mean to tell other people why they do things!

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Again, Henry, your missing the point by a Country mile.

We might be a little better overall at home the 15 years of FedEx than we have been on the road. All things being equal, that should be the case with every single team.

But a 60-60-1 record is NOT a home-field advantage. That's the very definition of home mediocrity that has consistently shown in the final standings. None more so than the dropped home games to divisional opponents.

To suggest, as many keep doing, that we have a home advantage because we're slightly less crap at home than we are on the road when the actual home record is utterly shocking is taking as much licence as fans often like to take to make something sound better than it actually is.

The Redskins having a home-field advantage at FedEx is 'complete and utter nonsense' in reality.

---------- Post added September-20th-2012 at 03:44 PM ----------

The same reason that people go to concerts, because musicians certainly don't play any better with fans around. You go because you want to be there and experience it in person, not because you think you're improving the team.

I honestly don't get that Joe. No offense, but that is such a foreign idea to me as a fan/ supporter, it blows my mind. To think I don't have an effect on what happens on the actual field is a ridiculous notion to me. If that's the case, we have 80k or so customers 8 times a year. And not 80k fans.

Hail.

[RansomthePasserby]

The same reason that people go to concerts, because musicians certainly don't play any better with fans around. You go because you want to be there and experience it in person, not because you think you're improving the team.

Edit: I should probably not say "you," though, when I'm talking about me, haha...I don't mean to tell other people why they do things!

Dude, musicians definitely put on better shows when their fans are into it. Music is emotional, football is also emotional. Both musicians and football players feed off the fan's energy and perform better when the crowd is amped.

[DJD2]

I wonder how it compares to the rest of the league over the same time frame.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Dude, musicians definitely put on better shows when their fans are into it. Music is emotional, football is also emotional. Both musicians and football players feed off the fan's energy and perform better when the crowd is amped.

I'm glad you posted that. I was beginning to think it was just me that could see the impact fans can have in what happen's out on the field.

Hail.