Nissan To Find Out What Fuels Fans’ Excitement
Nissan, official global automotive sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, has announced its partnership with sport science institution Loughborough University, to develop the very first Nissan Excitement Index.
The Nissan Excitement Index aims to explore and understand the science behind football fan excitement, and uncover some of the factors which make up an exciting football match, in the build up to this year’s UEFA Champions League Final in Milan.
A team of Loughborough scientists will analyse physiological and contextual data from live ‘excitement experiments’ conducted on football fans at UEFA Champions League matches across Europe. Experts will then analyse this combined index of data, including heart rate, breathing rate and electrodermal activity, in order to establish some of the elements that make for a truly exciting fan experience.
Jean-Pierre Diernaz, vice president for marketing, Nissan Europe said; “Excitement is at the heart of everything we do at Nissan, which is one of the main reasons we are proud to sponsor the most exciting football tournament in the world, the UEFA Champions League.”
Using data initially collated at UEFA Champions League matches during the Round of 16 knockout stage, Nissan and Loughborough will develop a scientific formula that demonstrates key elements that make for the most exciting type of football match. The research will then continue right through until the end of the season, culminating the UEFA Champions League Final in Milan.
“To date no one has found the scientific formula for excitement, and we want to lead the way into exploring and understanding this, starting with football fans. By partnering with the experts at Loughborough University we hope to find out what gets football fans most excited and use this intel to facilitate the most thrilling experience possible through our sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League.” Diernaz added.
Dr. Dale Esliger, Loughborough University, commented: “Every football supporter across Europe probably has a sense of what makes a UEFA Champions League match exciting – star players, goals, big saves or penalties.
“What we plan to do here at the school of sport, exercise and health sciences at Loughborough University, is use our expertise in sport and physiological sensors to help quantify the physiological responses of football supporters to these key time points during matches. Data from such sensors will help us determine some of the key ingredients that make an exciting match.”
The Excitement Index follows a survey commissioned by Nissan which revealed Europeans get more excited about watching football than they do compared to other past times such as spending time with their family.
The survery revealed that participants ranked Lionel Messi the most exciting footballer to watch (69%) and that almost three quarters (73%) of Europeans also rated the UEFA Champions League Final as the most exciting annual sporting event to watch.
