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A study in Scientific Reports finds that major matches, especially finals, can significantly raise fans’ stress levels and heart rates, a phenomenon researchers call "football fever."
Researchers focused on the 2025 German Cup final (DFB-Pokal) between first-division VfB Stuttgart and third-division Arminia Bielefeld, describing the final as an exceptionally significant event for Bielefeld supporters.
The cup final was played May 24, 2025, at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, the traditional venue for the tournament’s last match.
The paper notes it was only the fourth time since the competition began in 1935 that a third-division club reached the final, and Arminia Bielefeld’s first appearance in the championship match drew broad attention for weeks.
The research team collected high-resolution Garmin smartwatch data from 229 adult fans who self-identified as Arminia Bielefeld supporters. Data collection ran from May 14, 2025, 10 days before the final, through July 31, 2025.
The goal was to compare matchday responses with baseline patterns across "regular days," defined as days without an official Arminia match and without local holidays.
The watches recorded heart rate every 15 seconds. Stress levels, calculated using heart rate, heart rate variability and personal factors, were recorded every three minutes on a 0 to 100 scale, but not during periods of high physical activity.
Participants consented through a process developed with a university research data center, and anonymized analysis was approved for publication.
The study reports a clear rise in physiological arousal on the day of the final compared with non-matchdays across the observation window.
Summary statistics show the average stress level was 44.2 on the cup-final day versus 31.1 on regular days, while the average heart rate was 78.7 bpm on the final day compared with 70.9 bpm on regular days.
Matchday patterns also stood out in timing.
Average stress was already elevated during the night before the final and continued rising across the day, peaking between 6 and 8 p.m., right before the 8 p.m. kickoff, then remaining higher than typical levels even after the match ended.
A post-match survey was sent to 95 participants who had agreed to further contact; 37 responded. Among them, 20 attended the final in the stadium, five watched at public gatherings, and 11 watched on TV.
Half reported consuming alcohol, including 65% of those in the stadium.
Among surveyed fans, the average heart rate during the match was highest in the stadium (94.2 bpm), compared with 79.4 bpm for TV viewers and 73.8 bpm for public gatherings.
The paper also reports higher heart rates among those who consumed alcohol during the match.
For stadium attendees, the study compared fans arriving in Berlin on Friday, or earlier, with those arriving on matchday Saturday.
Both groups’ stress levels rose toward kickoff, but the report notes distinct timing differences, with matchday arrivals showing higher average stress across the day overall.
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