Cause of elevated defensive pass interference calls for home offenses

Determine whether the 18% higher odds of defensive pass interference fouls when the home team is on offense in National Football League games, as reported by Snyder and Lopez (2015), are caused by increased foul incidence by visiting defenders or by officiating tendencies that lead to differential penalty calls.

Background

Within the broader literature on home advantage, officiating has been proposed as a potential mechanism. Snyder and Lopez (2015) analyzed discretionary NFL penalties and reported that defensive pass interference was called more frequently when the home team was on offense, even after adjusting for game context. This observed asymmetry suggests a possible link between crowd effects, player behavior, or officiating practices.

However, the precise source of this asymmetry remains unresolved. Clarifying whether the elevated call rate is due to actual differences in defensive fouling by visiting teams or to officiating tendencies (including potential bias or differential interpretation) is critical for understanding the mechanisms underlying home advantage and for informing policy changes such as replay usage or officiating guidelines.