Several high-profile incidents have occurred in recent years at major football events, where the general public, media personnel, academics and fans alike, have criticised authorities for their failure to strike the right balance between security and an enjoyable fan experience.
After pressure from advocacy groups including the Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA) and Football Supporters Europe (FSA), UEFA became the first football federation to include clauses related to human rights as part of its bidding processes for Euro 2024. This included a requirement that potential hosts must “proactively address human rights risks”. Outlining the responsibility of event organisers and host government to protect human rights; UEFA, alongside the German Football Association – Deutscher Fussball Bund (DFB) – and the Euro 2024 GmbH (a joint venture of UEFA and DFB) published their human rights declaration for the Euro 2024 tournament in November 2023. Notably, a section of this declaration focused on fan zones at the tournament. Fan zones, first introduced at the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, before being popularised at the World Cup 2006 in Germany, have been utilised in almost every major football event since. In fact, every UEFA (and FIFA) tournament has a contractual requirement to include these ‘football festivals’ in their hosting agreements. Fan zones are secondary venues, welcoming ticketless supporters who can be managed, through stewarding, security or formal policing, to combat the perceived threat of anti-social behaviour, as well as a means of producing positive media stories for the host- in this case, Germany. Fan zones provide a space for fans to watch matches, consume food and drink, and participate in sponsor activation activities in a safe, controlled environment. However, these spaces also embody a dual mission of governing and managing “problematic” fans groups while making money from them.
In our research we explored the fan zones for ourselves, in host cities, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Munich, to gauge the real-life fan experience; through vox-pop interviews with fans as they exited the fan zones and observation within them, utilising the UEFA Euro 2024 human rights declaration as a guide for discovery. In this blog we outline some early insights from fan zones in two of these host cities.
Cologne
Cologne had two officially sanctioned areas for fans – the named ‘fan zone’ at Heumarkt (capacity 7500) in the city centre – open every day, and the public viewing area at Tanzbrunnen (capacity 12,500), further out, across the Rhine river- open on selected days. Fan Zone Heumarkt was the principal hub for Euro 2024 activity in the city centre, with an array of activities taking place within, mostly linked with commercial partners and sponsors (e.g. Coca-Cola, BYD), as well as table tennis tables, TeqBall, and CPR training taking place at times. Beer tents and multiple food outlets were dotted around the outskirts which allowed for limited queueing; and three main screens, as well as a raised platform facing the central screen to aid accessibility.
With Public Viewing Tanzbrunnen being outside the city centre, and Tanzbrunnen being Cologne’s best-known area for open-air events; it had the benefit of extra green space where more activities, such as the ‘football experience’ could take place and had a lot less corporate sponsor involvement than its Heumarkt counterpart, with no examples of sponsors doing activities. On either side of the fenced off public viewing area, differing activities were taking place. One side contained a green area where local schools were participating in a 7aside tournament (the ‘football experience’) as part of their Learn to Coach course from Fussball Verband Mittelrhein – the DFB’s local authority for Cologne and Leverkusen. It was fantastic to watch the enjoyment of the youth participating, and with pitches adorned in UEFA Euro 2024 branded hoardings, this added to its spectacle. On the other side, being a match day, at the ‘festival area’, the fan teams of Scotland and Switzerland were playing each other in a game of 5aside with many watching on, and other activities (e.g. penalties, TeqBall) were being led by volunteers. Inside Tanzbrunnen public viewing itself, there was a stage set up where bands would play, and three screens spread across the large area, with plenty of food and drinks stations.
In addition to these two fan areas, with the arrival of a reported 200,000 Scots in the city for the group game vs Switzerland, the local organisers commissioned a unique ‘Special Viewing’ area for Scotland fans who had travelled without a ticket for the tie – a 0.5 mile-long strip on the road parallel to the Rhine river, which had six huge screens spaced out along this route, and a stage set up for Scottish musicians to add to the already carnival-like atmosphere. While there were plenty of food and drink stalls at this special viewing, security was much more lackadaisical, with fans entering at multiple points, with their own cans, bottles and food, which sounds ideal as a fan, but could have resulted in unnecessary problems. Speaking to fans there, they felt very grateful that Cologne had made the effort to accommodate them.
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf housed two fan zones and one public viewing area. The first fan zone, open on selected days – Schauspielhaus (‘theatre’ in English) is located at the ‘architectural hotspot’ around Gustaf-Gründgens-Platz. This fan zone had an ample seating area- akin to the ‘bleachers’ seen at American college basketball games- facing the one big screen. This fan zone was one of the smallest I came across, and had minimal corporate involvement inside, besides Adidas running an activity outside it. On selected evenings, the stage beneath the screen was brought out and theatre performance ‘Faith, Love, Football’ would commence. The second fan zone – Burgplatz, open every day, is found in the midst of the Altstadt (Old Town), beside the Rhine river. Conversely to Schauspielhaus, this zone was bustling with corporate activities, from Lidl, to Ergo (much like Heumarkt in Cologne) and had one big screen in the centre of the circular area, coupled with a stage where an announcer would entertain the crowd between games, with some local music acts intertwined. Public viewing Rheinufer was near Burgplatz, a short walk along the river – a short walk that was occupied with sponsor tents and activities; although was only open on German team matchdays and when Düsseldorf was hosting games. Encompassing two screens along the river, with the skyline as a backdrop, this was an ideal area for an ‘Instagram-friendly’ picture- ideal PR for the city. With the city’s slogan for the tournament being ‘Everybody’s Heimspiel’ (everybody’s home game), it is fair to say that fans made themselves at home here, and importantly, were enabled to do so by the city- via the fan zones, public viewing, and volunteers roaming the streets between venues. Fans spoken to echoed this sentiment.
Concluding thoughts
Overall, fans expressed their positivity for the fan zones, in terms of the inclusive and friendly environment (co-created by staff, volunteers and fans), professionalism of security personnel and police (including the cohesiveness between the two groups), utility of volunteers, safety, and freedom of expression. Further, in each fan zone and public viewing area, it was clear they are also being used to promote pro-social messages about the importance of fan safety, security, accessibility and inclusion both in their venue design, signage and the ‘United by Football’ content shared on their big screens.
However, there are always improvements that can be made. Firstly, the opening evening of the tournament provided some issues. With the hosts, Germany, playing, fan areas were completely full, with many watching screens from outside the zone itself (in Cologne, for example). Of course, this meant it was difficult to get to food and drink stalls, and in terms of disabled access, the congestion in the fan zones would have rendered accessibility at an insufficient level. Additionally, signage for the fan zones’ prohibited items was poor, in terms of visibility (too small) and location. This caused congestion at security entrance points due to fans’ lack of knowledge.
On the topic of accessibility, fan zones advertised an ‘experience without barriers’. While each fan zone was flat and provided raised platforms for accessible viewing and accessible toilet facilities (or at Schauspielhaus wheelchair areas were at the bottom of the bleachers), there is still a way to go to make the tournament fully accessible, in terms of: clearer signage to entrances and toilet facilities, toilet facilities in closer proximity to viewing platforms, lower counters at food and drink stalls, and availability of sensory packs, quiet spaces and hearing loops. Further, when in Cologne, some security staff were unsure if there was a wheelchair entrance or if there was one entrance for all. In Düsseldorf, this was not the case – barrier free entry was provided in both fan zones, with security staff well informed. Thus, knowledge dissemination between staff is imperative.
Fan zones also made a conscious effort to improve sustainability, in terms of free water (and sunscreen), using recycled products, and reusable cups, where fans pay €2 deposit which is reimbursed upon return of the cup to the drinks tent. Many fans decided against returning their cup due to queueing, where perhaps ‘cup return stations’ or the like would be more feasible.
Moreover, ‘event seizure’ (Müller, 2015) was evident in terms of the activities put on by UEFA and the event sponsors, ‘taking over’ the main areas of each city. However, local businesses and organisations were also involved within the activities at the fan zones or public viewing areas, which can generate a more ‘authentic’ feel of the locality and of Germany, rather than a completely ‘co-branded’ experience, which has been the case for other tournaments. As some fans alluded to, Germany’s football culture has also allowed for residents to welcome fans, as they can understand their passions, and don’t perceive their behaviour as unruly or disruptive (to an extent, of course), which provides a recipe for enjoyment for all, locals and visitors alike.
This blog was written by Callum McCloskey and David McGillivray.
Callum McCloskey is currently a doctoral researcher at CCSE. David McGillivray is Professor of Event & Digital Cultures at UWS and CCSE Deputy Director.
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