Road (sports)

Road game (short for on the road) [cite web|url=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:on+the+road&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title|accessdate=2007-08-11|title=Definitions of on the road on the Web|publisher=Google|date=2007] , more commonly known as an away game, is a reference to all cities and stadia/arenas/fields/venues where an athletic team plays games for which it is not the host. [cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/road+game|accessdate=2007-08-11|title=Road game|publisher=Farlex, Inc.|date=2007|work=TheFreeDictionary] Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions. Each team has a location where it practices during the season and where it hosts games.

When a team is not the host, it must travel to games (usually by bus or car, hence "road", though increasingly also by plane for longer journeys). Thus, when a team is not hosting a game, the team is described as the road team, the visiting team, or the away team, and the game is described as a road game or an away game for that team. The venue in which the game is played is described as the visiting stadium or the road. The host team is said to be the home team.

The home team is often thought to have a home advantage over the visiting team, because of their familiarity with the environment, their shorter travel times, and the influence that a parochial crowd may have over an official's decisions. Major sporting events, if not held at a neutral venue, are often over several legs at each team's home ground, so that neither team has an advantage over the other.

Occasionally, the road team may not have to travel very far at all to a road game. A few times a year, they may even be lucky enough to have the road game played at their own home stadium or arena. Such an example would be when the Lakers play the Clippers every year, or when the New York Jets and Giants play each other, one of them has to be the road team, but is still playing in their home venue. This is more prevalent in high school where many schools will often share a stadium.

As recognition for the difficulty in winning away matches, cup competitions in football (soccer) often invoke the away goals rule. Away goals can also sometimes be used to separate teams level on points and goal difference in league competitions.fact|date=July 2008

See also

*Home (sports)

Notes