Sunday July 10th was the final of the UEFA Euro Championship, one of the most important soccer tournaments in Europe. This year, the championship final drew a record audience of 300 million television viewers worldwide, with a major contribution from the two countries playing the final: Portugal and France.
With the popularity of the tournament, we asked ourselves if there might be a large-scale impact on activity levels in France and Portugal. Did people stay put in front of their TVs or did they venture out to cheer for their national team?
To answer that question, we analyzed data from a pool of 10,000 users of Withings activity trackers. The following graph shows what the average activity profile of the Portuguese and the French looked like the day of the final.
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Activity levels decreased during the match
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As soon as the match began, activity levels dropped steeply in both France and Portugal. The match was composed of the two normal 45-minute halves – concluding with a score of 0-0 – plus 30-minutes of overtime, in which Portugal scored the winning goal to become the 2016 European champions.
Although people were relatively stationary during the match, the same does not apply during the break between halves, or between the 2nd half and the overtime. During these intervals, we observe a clear activity peak for both the Portuguese and the French. Maybe people got up to use the bathroom, grab more drinks, or simply stretch their legs.
Activity was lowest during the second half of the match for the Portuguese, but during overtime for the French.
After the match, the Portuguese partied, while the French went to bed
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Right after the match ended, we see a spike in activity levels. For the French, this peak lasted for 30 minutes, and then activity dropped to a level that indicates they most certainly went to bed. The Portuguese, on the other hand, were very active for more than 2 hours, probably because they were out celebrating their victory.
About the study
This study was conducted by Withings, based on data from a panel of 10,000 users of Withings activity trackers in France and Portugal. Withings guarantees the confidentiality of personal data and protects the privacy of its users. Therefore, all data used for this study was rigorously anonymized and aggregated.
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