In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gain over the visiting team. This benefit has been attributed to psychological effects supporting fans have on the competitors or referees; to psychological or physiological advantages of playing near home in familiar situations; to the disadvantages away teams suffer from changing time zones or climates, or from the rigors of travel; and in some sports, to specific rules that favor the home team directly or indirectly. In baseball and cricket in particular, the difference may also be the result of the home team having been assembled to take advantage of the idiosyncrasies of the home ballpark/ground, such as the distances to the outfield walls/boundaries; most other sports are played in standardized venues.
The 2004 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2004 season. The 100th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals; the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in four games. The series was played from October 23 to 27, 2004, at Fenway Park and Busch Memorial Stadium, broadcast on Fox, and watched by an average of just under 25.5 million viewers. The Red Sox's World Series championship was their first since 1918, ending the Curse of the Bambino.
The 1967 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1967 season. The 64th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals. In a rematch of the 1946 World Series, the Cardinals won in seven games for their second championship in four years and their eighth overall. The Series was played from October 4 to 12 at Fenway Park and Busch Memorial Stadium. It was the first World Series since 1948 that did not feature the Yankees, Dodgers, or Giants.
The National Football League (NFL) playoffs is the annual single-elimination tournament held to determine the league champion. The four-round tournament is held after the league's regular season. Since the 2020 season, seven teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season winning percentage, with a tie-breaking procedure if required. The top team in each conference receives a first-round bye, automatically advancing to the next round. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, the league's championship game, competed between teams from each conference. Among the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, the NFL postseason is the only one to use a single-elimination tournament in all of its rounds.
The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League (NFL).
Des Moines Menace is an American soccer team based in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. The Menace have had sustained success in USL League Two during their tenure, claiming the USL League Two championship in the 2021 campaign. The Menace also hold three regular season championships, coming in the 2018, 2019, and 2021 campaigns respectively.
The 1996 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1996 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:
The 2010 NFL season was the 91st regular season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 45th of the Super Bowl era.
The 2005 Indianapolis Colts season was the franchise's 53rd season in the National Football League (NFL), the 22nd in Indianapolis and the fourth season under head coach Tony Dungy. The Colts improved on their 12–4 record from 2004 and finished the season 14–2. Indianapolis started the season with a 13-game winning streak and were heavily favored to go to and win Super Bowl XL. The Colts' rival, the New England Patriots, lost to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional round of the playoffs. The following day, the Colts were favored over the Pittsburgh Steelers because they had easily beaten them in their previous meeting. However, the Colts lost their first playoff game in heartbreaking fashion to the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers, when placekicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a crucial field goal.
The 1986 Cleveland Browns season was the team’s 37th season with the National Football League. The death of Don Rogers, a promising young defensive back who was preparing to enter his third season in the NFL, cast a black cloud over the team as it prepared for the 1986 season.
The 2004 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 123rd season for the St. Louis Cardinals, a Major League Baseball franchise in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the 113th season for the Cardinals in the National League and their 39th in Busch Memorial Stadium.
The 1966–67 season of the Philadelphia 76ers was their 14th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and their 4th since moving from Syracuse.
The 1999Tennessee Titans season was the franchise's 40th season and their 30th in the National Football League (NFL). It was the first year for the team under the name “Titans”, while the nickname “Oilers” was retired by the NFL. The Titans qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1993, and their first since relocating from Houston, as well as their first playoff victory since 1991. They became the seventh Wild Card team to qualify for the Super Bowl. However, after defeating the Bills, Colts, and Jaguars in the postseason, they lost the Super Bowl to the St. Louis Rams, 23–16 on a famous last-second tackle made by Rams defender Mike Jones at the goal line that prevented Titans receiver Kevin Dyson from scoring a potential game-tying touchdown.
The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals season was the team's 45th year with the National Football League (NFL) and the fifth season in St. Louis.
World Wide Technology Soccer Park is a soccer complex which includes four soccer-specific stadiums, with the main field, "West Community Stadium", holding 5,500 seats. Located in Fenton, Missouri, United States, a suburb southwest of downtown St. Louis, it is owned and operated by St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club whose 275 teams and 3,600 players use it for both practice and games.
Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte Stadium, on the campus of SIUE in Edwardsville, Illinois, then moved to Soccer Park in Fenton, Missouri, in June. On May 27, 2010, the WPS announced that the club would fold effective immediately, forcing the league to compete with only 7 teams for the rest of the season.
The 2009 Saint Louis Athletica season was the inaugural season for the team.
The 2013 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2013 season. The 109th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals; the Red Sox won, 4 games to 2 to win their eighth championship. The Red Sox had home field advantage for the series, based on the AL's win in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game on July 16. This was the first World Series since 1999 to feature both number one seeds from the AL and NL. The Series started on October 23, 2013, ending with Game 6 on October 30, 2013.
The 2012–13 Miami Heat season was the franchise's 25th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They came into the season as the defending NBA champions, back-to-back Eastern Conference champions, the third season playing with the "Big Three" of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and the fifth season under head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Soccer Bowl '80 was the championship final of the 1980 NASL season. The New York Cosmos took on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The match was played on September 21, 1980 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The Cosmos won, 3–0, to claim their fourth league championship, and third in the past four seasons.