Dortmund launch initiative to reward fans who give up their phones at the stadium
That "selfie" snap inside the stadium could soon cost Borussia Dortmund fans a shot at some valuable prizes, with the German club set to reward supporters who leave their phones alone during matches.
Dortmund are offering signed shirts and gift cards for club merchandise to fans who use an app that tracks how often they unlock their phones inside the ground.
According to a report by ESPN, Dortmund said "more fans are becoming annoyed by selfies, live streaming and social media in the stands", and supporters can now volunteer to switch on "fan mode" in the club's app, starting with Saturday's home match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
"Fan mode" counts how many times a phone is unlocked during the match, excluding the half-time break, then awards points based on how little someone uses their device. The biggest point-collectors scoop the prizes. Every unlock drains points.
The rewards system and the app are entirely optional. Nobody is banning phones.
German football is famous for its raucous support, none more so than Dortmund's enormous, celebrated "Yellow Wall".
Behind the club's stance lies a wider backlash in German football against turning stadium atmospheres into social media content, with influencers wheeling in professional filming kit the main target.
Second-division Hertha Berlin banned the production of "commercial and profit-making" videos from their matches this month, while still letting fans take photos and videos for personal use.
Dynamo Dresden went the same way last August, outlawing commercial filming for social media. The club said it wanted fans to feel comfortable at matches and to protect its television broadcast rights deals.
Fans may be nudged to put their phones down, but Dortmund's players will have free rein over their devices, as manager Niko Kovac made clear on Friday.
Kovac said he already bans phones at the pre-match meal the squad share together, yet he has no problem with players using phones or wearing headphones in the dressing room or on the team bus.
He added: "The players are mature enough to know what they need to prepare for a match."
Even so, Kovac signed off with a word of caution: "I think we could all spend a little less time looking at our phones from time to time. If we cut down on that, we would all be able to focus more on other things."
