In Dortmund, where the yellow wall is built on noise, motion and shared ritual, Borussia Dortmund are asking supporters to look up from their phones. The club will trial a feature designed to reward fans for leaving their screens alone during Saturday’s Bundesliga meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt, scheduled for 18:30.
A digital nudge for the Signal Iduna Park crowd
The initiative, called “Fan Mode”, has been added to the BVB app in an attempt to cut down mobile-phone use inside the stadium. It follows survey findings that 63% of football supporters use their phones regularly while in the stands.
Rather than imposing a ban, Dortmund have made the scheme voluntary. Fans who activate the setting will have the period in which their screen remains locked recorded by the app, earning points for each minute spent away from the device.
- “Fan Mode” is available through Borussia Dortmund’s official app.
- Points accumulate while a participant’s phone screen is locked.
- Supporters can turn the mode off during half-time.
- After the final whistle, the highest-scoring participants will enter the prize selection.
Shirts and shop vouchers on offer
The rewards include Dortmund shirts and vouchers for the club’s official store. The idea is to encourage supporters to experience the match without treating the terrace or seat as a backdrop for posts, recordings and constant scrolling.
Carsten Cramer, the club president, framed the project around the collective atmosphere that has long defined a matchday in the Ruhr city. More than 81,000 people singing, reacting and supporting together, he said, creates an occasion that cannot be replaced, and that is the experience Dortmund want to put back at the centre.
Frankfurt fixture provides the first test
The Frankfurt match will be the first opportunity for the club to see whether an incentive can change habits among a modern stadium audience. Dortmund supporters will still be free to use their phones, and the success of the experiment may depend as much on the contest unfolding on the pitch as on the prizes available afterward.
