Football is the world's most popular sport, evoking strong physiological and emotional responses among its fans. Yet, the specific dynamics of fan attachment to matches have received little attention in the literature. In this paper, we quantify these dynamics 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 club attachment, match attendance, and personal characteristics from a subset of 37 participants. By combining physiological data with survey information, we analyse variations in emotional engagement across individuals and contexts, as well as physiological reactions to key match events. 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.

翻译：足球作为全球最受欢迎的运动，能够引发球迷强烈的生理与情绪反应。然而，现有文献对球迷在比赛期间情感依附的具体动态机制关注甚少。本文通过一项职业足球领域的独特案例研究——2025年德国足球协会（DFB）杯决赛（由甲级俱乐部斯图加特对阵丙级俱乐部比勒费尔德），对这些动态进行了量化分析。我们收集了229名比勒费尔德球迷约12周的高分辨率智能手表数据（包括心率和压力水平），并辅以37名参与者的问卷调查数据（涵盖俱乐部依附程度、观赛情况及个人特征）。通过整合生理数据与调查信息，我们分析了不同个体与情境下情绪投入的差异，以及对关键比赛事件的生理反应。该方法为理解重大赛事期间令球迷着迷的“足球狂热”现象提供了罕见的数据驱动视角。此外，我们将比赛当日记录的生命体征参数与整个观察期内非比赛日的基线水平进行了对比。研究发现，球迷在开赛前数小时即开始出现显著的生理反应，并在开球时达到峰值。