Borussia Dortmund has launched a stadium app feature that rewards fans for keeping their phones locked during matches, the club announced. The Dortmund phone-locking rewards app, built around a “fan mode” setting, began tracking attendance at the club’s more than 81,000-seat stadium starting with Saturday’s home match against Eintracht Frankfurt, according to FOX Sports.
Fans who activate fan mode and avoid unlocking their phones during the 90 minutes can earn prizes that include signed jerseys and gift cards for club merchandise, FOX Sports reported. The club says the move responds to growing frustration among supporters over selfies, live streaming and social media use inside the stands during games.
How The Fan Mode Feature Works
The app’s fan mode tracks how often a supporter unlocks their phone once a match kicks off. Dortmund has not detailed a specific unlock threshold required to qualify for rewards, but the basic mechanic ties prizes directly to phones staying locked through the action.
The rewards themselves, signed jerseys and merchandise gift cards, give the program tangible incentives beyond simple encouragement to put devices away. It marks a notable step for a club whose matchday atmosphere is central to its identity.
Why Dortmund Says It Launched The Program
Club officials point to rising irritation among fans who feel phone use, from selfies to streaming, disrupts the communal experience of watching matches live. Borussia Dortmund CEO Carsten Cramer framed the stakes in blunt terms.
“Over 81,000 people in the stadium, singing, cheering, and holding their breath together: this here and now is irreplaceable,” Cramer said, according to FOX Sports.
That sentiment lines up with Dortmund’s reputation. The club’s Yellow Wall standing section is widely regarded as one of the loudest and largest supporter blocks in world soccer, and German soccer broadly is known for vocal, highly engaged fanbases.
Context From Elsewhere In German Soccer
Dortmund is not the only German club adjusting rules around phones and cameras at matches. Second-division side Hertha Berlin recently banned “commercially produced and monetized” video productions during its games, though it continues to allow fans to shoot photos and video for personal use, FOX Sports reported.
The two approaches differ. Hertha’s policy targets commercial content creation specifically, while Dortmund’s program incentivizes fans to disengage from their phones altogether during play. Both reflect a broader conversation in German soccer about how smartphones are reshaping the in-stadium experience.
What It Could Mean For The Matchday Experience
Dortmund has not released data on how many fans have opted into fan mode or how often rewards will be distributed going forward. Those specifics, along with any measurable effect on crowd behavior or atmosphere, remain unclear.
What is confirmed is the starting point: the program debuted with the Frankfurt match, giving Dortmund an initial test case inside one of the Bundesliga’s most famous atmospheres. Supporters attending future home matches at Signal Iduna Park will have the option to try fan mode themselves and see whether locked phones translate into the same prizes the club has promised.
For more on Bundesliga storylines, read about Fellhauer’s record-setting goal that turned heads earlier this season.
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