Home Advantage - Neutral Venues

Neutral Venues

For certain sporting events, home advantage may be removed by use of a neutral venue. This may be a national stadium that is not a home stadium to any club (for example Wembley Stadium hosts the FA Cup Final and semi-finals). Alternatively the neutral venue may be the home stadium of another club, such as was used historically to stage FA Cup semi-finals. If the venue is chosen before the start of the competition however, it is still possible for one team to gain home field advantage: For example, Bayern Munich played (and lost) the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final at their home stadium of Allianz Arena, as it was chosen as the venue in January 2010.

In the NFL, the Super Bowl is played in a venue chosen years in advance of the game. While it is possible for a team to reach the Super Bowl when it is played in their home stadium, this has never happened in the 46-year history of the game.

Neutral-venue matches may arise out of necessity, if the home team's normal stadium becomes unusable. For example, on December 12, 2010, the roof of the Minnesota Vikings' stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome collapsed due to a snowstorm. The Vikings were supposed to play against the New York Giants at the stadium the next day. The game was moved to the Detroit Lions' stadium, Ford Field. The following week, the Vikings' Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears was moved to the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium.