Yet another factor that has to be weighed when handicapping sports is altitude. At stadiums and arenas one mile or more above sea level, the air is considerably thinner than those below 1000 feet in elevation. With the oxygen level greatly reduced at higher elevations, the heart and breathing rates increase to compensate. This is experienced as shortness of breath and early fatigue. It takes about 10 days for the body to completely acclimate to altitude, so low-altitude teams making road trips to the Rocky Mountains simply don't have enough time to fully adjust. They often struggle, especially late in a hard-fought contest.

As in poor-weather games, special teams play can become a more decisive factor in high-altitude football contests as well. Punts and placekicks travel longer distances due to decreased air resistance. The team with the more accurate and consistent kicking game will fare considerably better as they will be more likely to convert their increased kicking range into good field position and points.

Air under low pressure is less dense, or thinner, than air under high pressure. This is the main reason long balls carry farther in Denver - the atmospheric pressure at that altitude (5,300 ft) is always about 15% less than sea level pressures. A hit that would have flown 400 ft at sea level would carry to 430 ft in the thin air of Coors Stadium. This permanent effect of Denver's high altitude is duly noted by the oddsmakers, however, resulting in totals typically in the 12-14 range, reducing the opportunity to simply bet OVERS and win most of the time. The day-to-day pressure changes of the atmosphere, however, are not considered by the oddsmakers, but these daily pressure differences at stadiums caused by the meanderings of the high and low pressures depicted on weather charts are very small. On a low pressure day the pressure is only one or two per cent lower than on a normal day, so a 400 ft shot would only carry a whopping 402 ft! Obviously this effect is too small to worry about in baseball, especially since there are other atmospheric factors that actually make a big difference.

PRO INFO SPORTS considers all of the NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball games played in the Rocky Mountains region "altitude games", from El Paso, Texas (4,000 ft) to Laramie, Wyoming (7,100 ft). In the NFL and MLB, only Denver qualifies, while the NBA has 2 high-altitude sites in Denver and Salt Lake City (4,330 ft).

Ultimately, a decided competitive advantage can be gained by a team in its element playing an opponent out of its element, whether it is temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, or altitude.

These weather principles are, of course, generalities and all factors must be considered when analyzing sports investment opportunities, but the monitoring and scrutinizing of these conditions and circumstances are examples of how PRO INFO SPORTS gains a significant sports handicapping advantage and uses the information to help determine the strength of certain selections according to our Money Management strategy.

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