BVB Rewards Fans for Putting Phones Away: New App Mode for the Stadium

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents BVB Rewards Fans for Putting Phones Away: New App Mode for the Stadium.

The start is clear: Borussia Dortmund will make the FanModus available from the next league match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. You activate the function in the BVB app on matchday. That is the first step toward making phone use worthwhile: If you leave your smartphone untouched and lock the screen, you collect points during the game.

The FanModus Is Live in the BVB App From Saturday

The launch details

The FanModus is specifically designed for matchday. It is activated in the BVB app, after which the function measures the time your screen remains locked. That time generates points: You collect one point for every minute without phone use.

The club's urgent appeal

BVB justifies the FanModus with concrete distractions in the stands. In a club statement, it says, “More and more fans are annoyed by selfies, streaming and social media in the stands”. Its request to fans is: “Leave your smartphone in your pocket at the stadium and enjoy the game with all your senses”. The mode therefore targets precisely those actions that the club named as disruptive factors in its statement.

Every Minute With a Locked Screen Earns Points

How the measurement works

Technically, merely carrying the smartphone does not count; instead, the system measures the time with the screen locked. Every minute without phone use becomes one accumulated point. The principle is easy to understand: The longer your screen remains locked, the more points you can have by the end of the game.

Half-time is excluded

The FanModus is not a complete ban. During half-time, you may use your phone. You must then put it back into FanModus so that the time with the screen locked continues to be counted. The final whistle also ends point collection.

Less Active Use Means a Higher Point Total

The ranking

The score depends on how rarely fans use their smartphone during the home game. Those who spend less time actively using their smartphone therefore collect more points. Participants with the most points can win prizes.

The prizes

The prizes listed are signed BVB shirts and fan-shop vouchers. The report does not state how many prizes will be awarded or how many points are required for a shirt voucher or voucher. It also does not specify a concrete point total per minute—the only thing established is that points accrue for every minute without phone use.

Almost Two Thirds of Football Fans Regularly Use Their Phones

The situation according to the club

According to BVB, almost two thirds of all football fans regularly use their smartphone in the stands. This figure from the club provides the context for the FanModus: The club wants to direct attention back into the stadium and reach people who feel disturbed by selfies, streaming or social media.

The three disruptive factors mentioned make the use case clear. If you can do without streaming, social media or selfies during the game, you protect the attention of the people around you and earn points in the BVB app in return. The incentive therefore applies not just to an individual action, but to the entire period of phone use during the home game.

The Incentive Is Clear—Its Effectiveness Remains Open

The strongest counterargument

The report establishes the process, the launch and the possible prizes. It does not, however, establish that earning voluntary points actually leads to less annoyance in the stands. What is measured primarily is the time with the screen locked; whether this actually makes selfies, streaming and social-media activity less frequent remains an open question.

This is no minor detail: The FanModus relies on the visible benefit for individual fans having a stronger effect than the distraction caused by their own smartphone. As soon as the mode is active and points are accumulating, it creates a concrete incentive. The report cannot yet say how many fans will activate it on Saturday against Eintracht Frankfurt or whether behavior in the stands will change.

The evidence-based assessment

The Spiegel report on the FanModus shows a fully traceable process: Activate the mode in the BVB app, use locked-screen time to collect points, use the phone at half-time and then lock it again. The mechanics are therefore clear. The real success—less distraction for everyone in the stands—still has to prove itself in practice.