Borussia Dortmund rewards those who keep their phone in their pocket: how do we experience the match from the stands?

The German club is asking fans to use their smartphones less at the stadium. A choice that prompts reflection on attention, belonging and the pleasure of sharing a sporting experience.

By Fabio Zarra

Imagine the moment before a penalty kick. The stadium holds its breath, the goalkeeper shifts on the line, the taker sets the ball down. Next to you someone is singing, someone else closes their eyes. Meanwhile, you're looking for the right framing on your phone.

Then the shot comes. Maybe you filmed it perfectly. But how much of that moment did you live together with the people who were there with you?

It's a question Borussia Dortmund has decided to place at the centre of the stadium experience. The German club, together with Vodafone, has introduced a feature in its app to encourage fans to use their smartphones less during home matches.

The initiative opens a reflection that goes beyond football: what happens to our attention and our relationships when an experience is interrupted by a screen?

How FanModus works

On 22 October 2026 Borussia Dortmund announced the launch of FanModus, available from the home match against Eintracht Frankfurt on 24 October.

Participation is voluntary. Fans can activate the feature in the club's official app and accumulate points while the phone stays locked during the match. Those with the highest scores can compete for prizes, including signed shirts and vouchers for the official store.

During half-time the device can be used; to resume collecting points in the second half, the mode must be reactivated. To verify presence at the stadium, the app requires access to location. [1]

In presenting the initiative, the club cites a 2023 Vodafone survey of 1,000 regular stadium-goers: 63% of respondents said they regularly use their smartphone during matches.

The press release doesn't provide enough detail on sampling to establish how far the result represents all fans. The figure therefore describes the group surveyed and doesn't, on its own, show that phone use worsens the stadium experience. [1]

Attention: present at the stadium, but with the mind elsewhere?

Watching a match means following an unpredictable event. Attention shifts continuously: from the ball to the players' positioning, from the bench to the stands, from the conversation with the person next to us to what's happening on the pitch.

When we check a notification or scroll through social media, we temporarily interrupt this sequence. We can return to the match straight away, but in the meantime we may have missed a movement, a chant or a collective reaction.

A study by Dwyer, Kushlev and Dunn examined the relationship between smartphones and the enjoyment of face-to-face interactions. In the first study, 304 people shared a meal with friends or family: some groups had to keep their phones on the table, others put them away.

People who had their phone available reported, on average, greater distraction and a slightly lower level of interest and enjoyment in the experience. The authors observed a possible relationship between these aspects, while noting that some results were statistically weak. The precise role of distraction therefore can't be considered definitively demonstrated. [2]

The study concerned a shared meal, not a football match. We can't conclude that putting the phone away automatically makes going to the stadium more enjoyable.

The research does offer a pointer, though: when we use the device during an interaction, part of our attention can shift away from the people and events present. Applied to the match, this could mean noticing a chant later or missing a moment that wasn't only about the pitch. It's a possibility to explore, not an effect measured by research on Dortmund.

Having your phone with you doesn't mean being distracted

A distinction is needed between the presence of the smartphone and the way it is used.

A meta-analysis by Courtright and Caplan examined 43 studies on interpersonal interactions. Research dedicated to the mere presence of the phone provided no convincing support for the idea that the device, simply by being visible, worsens impressions of one's interlocutor.

Studies on phone use during an interaction, by contrast, found overall more negative evaluations from the person who wasn't using it. [3]

Linares and Sellier, in two experiments, also failed to replicate earlier findings according to which the mere presence of a phone would compromise the quality of the relationship between strangers. [4]

These studies concern conversations and interpersonal relationships, not the stands of a stadium. They do suggest caution, though: seeing a phone in a fan's hands isn't enough to establish how involved they are in the match.

Supporting a team is also an experience of belonging

A match isn't experienced only through the result. For many fans, going to the stadium means reconnecting with people, recognising oneself in a shared story and taking part in rituals repeated over time.

The scarf put on before leaving, the walk to the stadium, the song struck up at the same moment by thousands of people: these are gestures that can help build a sense of belonging.

A study by Portaluri and colleagues, conducted on 571 fans of two Italian Serie A teams, observed a positive association between identification with the fan community and subjective well-being. The authors also found more complex relationships linked to the intensity of emotional attachment to the team. [5]

The study didn't analyse smartphone use. Being observational, it also doesn't prove that a sense of belonging causes greater well-being.

It helps, however, to understand why for some people the match has a value that goes beyond the score: feeling part of a community can be a significant component of the experience.

From this perspective, Dortmund's initiative invites us to ask whether less frequent phone use might leave more room for shared moments. Testing this would require research conducted directly in stadiums.

Does taking a photo mean missing the moment?

It would be easy to conclude that every photograph takes something away from the experience. But research tells a more nuanced story.

In a series of nine experiments, Diehl, Zauberman and Barasch observed that taking photos could increase enjoyment of some positive experiences, when it helped people pay more attention to what they were looking at.

The benefit wasn't automatic: in an already highly engaging activity, taking photographs didn't increase enjoyment. In that specific case, though, the researchers didn't observe a decrease either. The experiments concerned different contexts and don't allow us to establish what effect a photo has during a Dortmund match. [6]

A photo taken with a child at their first match can become part of the memory of that day. A message can let you share a goal with someone far away. The phone can also serve practical, family or accessibility needs.

The question then becomes: how are we using the smartphone in that moment? To keep a memory, to connect with others, or to check almost automatically something that takes us away from the experience we had chosen to live?

Why offer a prize?

Borussia Dortmund chose to act on habits through an incentive: the less you use the phone, the more points you accumulate and the greater your chances of winning a prize.

A reward can make it more interesting to try a different behaviour, especially when interrupting a habit takes initial effort. A question remains, though: what will happen when the prize is no longer there?

A meta-analysis by Deci, Koestner and Ryan, based on 128 experimental studies, observed that some expected material rewards, tied to carrying out or the outcome of an activity, can reduce indicators of intrinsic motivation for that activity. The effects depend on the type of reward and the conditions in which it is offered. [7]

These studies didn't concern the Dortmund programme. Moreover, rewarding a person for using the phone less isn't necessarily the same as rewarding them for their passion for football. It would therefore be improper to predict that FanModus will reduce the pleasure of supporting.

The question remains open: will the prize lead only to chasing a score, or will it help some fans discover a different way of experiencing the match? Answering would require data on their experience and habits over time.

And for those on the pitch?

The relationship between stands and performance is another interesting theme. Chants, support, expectations and pressure can help define the environment in which athletes compete.

It would be incorrect, though, to claim that fewer phones in the stands will automatically produce a more focused team or better results. The intensity of support depends on many factors and, at the moment, we have no data linking Dortmund's FanModus to players' performance.

What we can recognise is that the stadium is a shared environment: what happens in the stands is part of the context of the match, just as the gestures, mistakes and emotions of those on the pitch are part of the fans' experience.

The stadium, the phone and the memory we take home

FanModus proposes a small interruption of our habits: during the match, trying to leave more room for what is happening in front of us and around us.

For some it will be an opportunity to sing more. For others, to talk to the person in the next seat or notice details that usually slip by. And for someone else a photograph will remain a precious part of the day.

When the final whistle comes, perhaps it won't only matter how many images we've saved on the phone. It will also matter what we managed to notice, feel and share while we were there.

If we think back to the match we remember with the most emotion, what comes to mind first: the result, the image we kept, or the people we lived it with?

visit the website www.sportpsychologycenter.com

Scientific references

[1] Borussia Dortmund. (2026, 22 October). New Fan Mode: BVB and Vodafone Reward Fans for Authentic Stadium Moments. https://www.bvb.de/de/en/news/news-overview/news.html/2026/10/22/New-Fan-Mode-BVB-and-Vodafone-Reward-Fans-for-Authentic-Stadium-Moments.html

[2] Dwyer, R. J., Kushlev, K., & Dunn, E. W. (2018). Smartphone use undermines enjoyment of face-to-face social interactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 78, 233–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.10.007

[3] Courtright, J., & Caplan, S. (2020). A meta-analysis of mobile phone use and presence. Human Communication & Technology, 1(2), 20–35. https://doi.org/10.17161/hct.v1i2.13412

[4] Linares, C., & Sellier, A.-L. (2021). How bad is the mere presence of a phone? A replication of Przybylski and Weinstein (2013) and an extension to creativity. PLOS ONE, 16(6), e0251451. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251451

[5] Portaluri, G., Lock, D., Inoue, Y., Mura, R., & Vicentini, F. (2025). Unveiling the emotional edge: how fans’ emotional attachment influences the relationships between fanship, fandom, subjective well-being, and attitudinal loyalty. Sport Management Review, 28(4), 796–822. https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2025.2513100

[6] Diehl, K., Zauberman, G., & Barasch, A. (2016). How taking photos increases enjoyment of experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(2), 119–140. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000055

[7] Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R. M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627–668. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.627