"For American football fans, the Super Bowl is the crescendo of the sporting calendar. Even if your team doesn't make the big night, watching the game is undeniably exciting, eliciting a combination of yelling, cursing, crying, drinking, praying, cheering andfor some lucky fansjubilation. That emotional roller-coaster is part of the fun, right? Well, not to rain on anyone's parade, but the science suggests that big sports events like the Super Bowl could carry some hidden health risks."
"Watching a game can raise your blood pressure and heart rateand sporting events are linked to higher rates of cardiac events, such as heart attacks. In one recent study, researchers found that fans of the German soccer team Arminia Bielefeldwhich competed in the German Cup finals for the first time ever in 2025saw their stress levels rise by 41 percent during the game compared with regular days. The results were published on Thursday in Scientific Reports."
"This was a game of a century, kind of a Cinderella story, says Christian Deutscher, a sports economics professor at Bielefeld University and an author on the study. Using smartwatch data, the researchers monitored fans' heart rates and stress levels for 10 days before the game and for 10 weeks afterward. Over the course of the study, the day of the game was by far the highest-stress day, Deutscher says."
Big sports events provoke intense emotional responses that produce measurable physiological effects. Watching a game can raise blood pressure and heart rate and is associated with higher rates of cardiac events, including heart attacks. Smartwatch data from a German Cup final in 2025 showed fans' stress levels rose by 41 percent during the game compared with regular days. Heart rates were higher among fans who consumed alcohol and among those who watched in person versus on television. Stress levels remained elevated for fans after a heartbreaking loss. Monitoring covered 10 days before the game and 10 weeks afterward.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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