June 1 – What is more exciting, watching a Champions League match or being a passenger in a Nissan GT-R at 250km/h driving around the iconic Spa racetrack? Champions League sponsor Nissan have compared both via their Excitement Index methodology, though one wonders if in this context it should be renamed the fear index.
The results of the experiment show that Champions League football compares favourably in terms of excitement.
Nissan, in partnership with sports science experts at Loughborough University, fitted fans with wearable technology to data including heart rate, breathing rate and electro-dermal activity, in order to examine the physiological effect excitement has, and ultimately determine which activity is more exciting.
Live match experiments took place during crunch UEFA Champions League fixtures and were compared to the reactions of passengers raced around by professional drivers in Nissan GT-Rs at the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
The results found the heart rates of football fans and Nissan GT-R passengers “were broadly comparable, with them increasing at peak moments as you would expect – such as when a goal was scored or driving round a tight corner.”
Dr. Dale Esliger from Loughborough University commented: “The main differences we saw were the physiological responses of the passengers and football supporters breathing rates. During the football matches we saw breathing rate increasing followed by a reduction in breathing rate, as fans held their breath during key moments of anticipation, thus demonstrating their excitement journey across the course of 90 minutes is more of a rollercoaster of emotions.”
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