Needless to say, but home crowds of a team sport like basketball, baseball, American football or soccer are brimming with energy and oozing with support for their respective teams. Having a home game is one of those instances that the home crowd is electrifying when it comes to cheering for its home team. The supportive and encouraging crowd is just one of the many reasons that home teams win their games, not to mention the colorful jersey designs that attract support from the live audience and online viewers of the game. What are the other reasons why home jerseys could help win games, even a championship?
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Color Matters at Home
Different major professional sports have different rules regarding the use of home and away jerseys. As sports enthusiasts, most of us may have already noticed the jersey color shift pattern when our favorite teams or their opponents play games at home or away. So far, these are the most common patterns: American football and hockey follow the color jersey arrangement for home teams. Baseball and basketball teams on another note, follow the white jersey arrangement for homes. So it’s no wonder if you’re seeing white Chicago Cubs jerseys when the team plays at home or when you ask a sports clothing sales personnel of the Cub’s home jersey. The commissions of these professional sports have also taken into consideration the identity of the home and away teams. It can be easy to recognize which team is playing at home and which team is not if the home team gets to choose the jersey color first.
2. Home Jerseys Have Rich Symbolism
They’re many reasons why home jerseys are advantageous when it comes to games. Aside from the color, jersey logos and designs can play significant roles in motivating and inspiring players and fans alike. One such example is NBA’s Detroit Pistons “Motor City” jersey. The simple tagline in the jersey mixes history and community pride as the team represents the city that is famously called Motor City. We don’t need to fill the pages about the historical significance of the tagline, but home players, fans, opponent teams and non-fans alike will feel the pride and intensity of the plays as the home team fiercely defends its home turf.
3. Home Jerseys Are Profitable
Home Jerseys can be great merchandise, materials both in the local and worldwide scales. Jerseys with properly marketed advertisements and promotions can gain many fans and buyers of home jerseys like the hometown fan, fans from other cities and sports enthusiasts. Fans will definitely line up to buy jerseys to be worn by their home team. How does this equate to winning a championship? Team owners and managers can benefit from the financial rewards of having high home jeales and convert these sales to better sports equipment, training facilities, and player accessories and services.
4. Great Home Jerseys Also mean Great Cheerleaders
Cheerleaders have become essential inclusions in professional sports events. These halftime beauties provide entertainment and a degree of inspiration to players and fans. Cheerleaders also get the chance to wear their cheerleader version outfit of the home jerseys, which adds promotional and marketing effectiveness to the jerseys. Home team cheerleaders can also reel in support from fans to increase cheer and chant vigor for the second half of the game. Thus, cheerleaders can be considered as game changers during halftime breaks. Adding to the effectiveness of the cheerleader pep cheers is a great home jersey-inspired outfit.
5. It’s a Psychological Thing
More than just for identification purposes, there can be a psychological link to having a home jersey and how it affects the performance of players. Humans have the natural tendency for territoriality – a protective response to an invasion of a perceived territory – which is somehow evoked in home and away games. This could also be one of the reasons for enhanced home performance. Studies show that salivary testosterone and cortisol, a stress hormone, can jump to high levels when it comes to having a home game. These hormones are particularly triggered during sports competitions and can be heightened when the factor of territoriality is added. The result of such a spike in these performance-enhancing hormones are increased motivation and heightened aggressiveness in plays, which would most of the times have a positive effect on the win rate of teams.
There could be more than just five reasons why a home jersey can help win a championship for a team. Whatever the reasons could be, it is certain that home jerseys give a unique home identity to the home team and connect with the fans and the home crowd. Also, communities and crowds have the natural inclination to support teams coming from their hometown, and a well-designed jersey can help crowds and fans connect with their teams. So get that superfan mode on and wear your favorite team’s home jersey.