The Value Of Home Field Advantage In Super Bowl 55

• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will become the first team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl at their home stadium this Sunday.
• While some might think this is an advantage, home teams in the NFL this season won only 49.8% of the time for the lowest record in NFL history.

TAMPA, Fla. – When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55, it will mark the first time in history a team is playing the biggest game of the year in their home stadium.

Over 55 years, the host city has dreamed of their team making it all the way to the end, only to come up short. Now, in a year where fans are as removed from the game as they have ever been, that dream will become a reality in Tampa.

Some bettors are wondering if this advantage could be the secret weapon for the Buccaneers to overcome the Chiefs. Currently, the Chiefs maintain a three-point advantage via the Super Bowl betting lines.

Tom Brady and company will have the benefit of playing the Super Bowl on their home turf. For the players, that means they will get to enjoy the comforts of home instead of spending the night in an unfamiliar hotel.

“I’m happy I’m in my own bed. I’m happy I’m eating good stuff at home. I’m happy I had extra time to prepare,” said Brady. “I don’t have to travel, don’t have to pack my clothes, pack up all my other crap. It’s our own locker room, our own practice field. In the end, there’s some real positives to take from it.”

While Brady seems to be enjoying the situation, the rules also allowed for the Buccaneers to choose their jerseys for the Super Bowl. The team has chosen to wear their road white jerseys for the game.

That decision likely comes from the fact that 34 of the last 54 Super Bowl winners have worn white jerseys, including 13 of the past 16.

Additionally, Tom Brady is 4-1 in Super Bowls when wearing white, and 2-2 in colored jerseys.

But does any of this really matter? Statistics say no.

Due to the effects of COVID-19, home-field advantage was effectively eliminated in the NFL this season.

Throughout the year, home teams won 49.8% of the time in the NFL, finishing below 50% for the first time in NFL history. This means that the home team had actually slightly less of a chance at victory than a coin toss.

While the NFL’s Super Bowl is a neutral site game, it is only natural that in a regular year there would be more Tampa Bay fans in their home city than fans making the trip from Kansas City.

The facts state that even if the stadium was at full capacity with Bucs fans, the Chiefs would still have a better shot at victory.

Despite their loud and garish 100-foot long pirate ship sitting in the endzone, the Buccaneers have historically failed to achieve success in Raymond-James Stadium.

While the Bucs are certainly a new team this year with many new faces, historically the franchise ranks dead last in the NFL at home-field winning percentage, having won just 46.5 percent of their games played in Tampa.

Now factor in their opponent for Super Bowl 55, the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.

The Chiefs have been one of the best teams on the road in recent history, going a perfect 8-0 this season in road games, compared to 8-2 at home in Arrowhead Stadium. In fact, the Chiefs' last road loss came in November of 2019 against the Titans, which was their only road defeat of that season.

Compare that to the Buccaneers, who went 5-3 at home this season including the 27-24 loss to the Chiefs in Week 12.

While there are many reasons that can encourage someone to bet on the Super Bowl, home field advantage should not be one this year.