# Measuring football fever through wearable technology

## TL;DR

This study uses wearable technology to measure the physiological responses of football fans during a high-stakes cup final.

## Contribution

The paper provides data-driven insights into emotional arousal among fans using smartwatch data and surveys.

## Key findings

- Fans showed pronounced physiological responses hours before the match, peaking at kick-off.
- Heart rate and stress levels were significantly higher on matchday compared to non-matchdays.
- Emotional arousal varied across individuals and contexts, as measured by physiological data.

## Abstract

Football is the world’s most popular sport, evoking strong physiological and emotional responses among its fans. Yet, the specific reactions to fan involvement have received little attention in the literature. In this paper, we quantify the resulting physiological responses through a unique case study from professional football: the 2025 cup final of the German Football Association (DFB) between first-division club VfB Stuttgart and third-division club Arminia Bielefeld. We collected high-resolution smartwatch data, including heart rate and stress level, from 229 Arminia Bielefeld fans over approximately 12 weeks, complemented by survey responses on identification with the club, match attendance, and personal characteristics from a subset of 37 participants. By combining physiological data with survey information, we analyse variations in emotional arousal across individuals and contexts, measured by physiological reactions to the cup final. This approach provides rare, data-driven insights into the football fever that captivates fans during high-stakes competitions. Furthermore, we compare the vital parameters recorded on the day of the match with baseline levels on non-matchdays throughout the entire observation period. Our findings reveal pronounced physiological responses among fans, beginning hours before the match and peaking at kick-off.