For football fans who believe that nothing beats the stadium experience, here’s scientific proof — from their heart rates. “This was a striking finding — we did not expect match days to stand out so clearly from non-match days,” Fuchs told this newspaper. Elevated heart rates in combination with alcohol are known to increase the risk of arrhythmias — irregular heart beats — and other cardiac events that might be relevant during high-stress sports events. Studies had over the past decade recorded increases in spectators’ heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormones during high-stakes football matches. Fuchs said the novelty of the new study lay in tracking sports’ fans heart rates during their everyday lives and comparing them with those on match days.

Source: The Telegraph February 06, 2026 02:20 UTC