According to a study in the journal “Scientific Reports,” Arminia Bielefeld fans had a higher heart rate and more stress during the cup final in May 2025 against VfB Stuttgart last year. Their average stress levels on the day of the final were 41 percent higher than on the nine days before and ten weeks after the game. Stress levels were derived from a combination of heart rate and heart rate variability.
Bielefeld was surprisingly promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga that year and, as a third division team, reached the final against the first division team from Stuttgart. According to data recorded over a total of twelve weeks, stress levels increased in the hours before the game. Bielefeld lost 2:4. According to the study, heart rate rose from 71 beats on normal days to 79 beats per minute on Saturday for TV viewers and even to 94 for fans who went to the stadium.
Christian Deutscher and his colleague Christiane Fuchs from Bielefeld University evaluated the data from smartwatches on the wrists of 229 adult Arminia fans. On the day of the cup final there were data from 194 participants.
And: Fans who drank alcohol had an average heart rate that was 5 percent higher than non-drinkers. Deutscher and Fuchs point out the increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias due to stress caused by the football experience combined with alcohol.
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