EURO 2024: Fans Could Lose Sleep For Two Days Post-Match

Did you know that the adrenaline rush you experience while watching your favourite football team can affect your sleep for up to two days after the match?

As EURO 2024 heats up, sleep company MattressNextDay explain this phenomenon and share the ideal bedtime routine to help football fans unwind and get a good night's sleep after the game.

Adrenaline levels could keep football fans from sleeping for up to TWO days after a match

It’s impossible not to get caught up in the excitement of watching your team play. In fact, a study has shown that ‘hardcore’ football fans experience intense levels of stress and ‘fight or flight’ while watching games. These levels increase when a team loses.

Norepinephrine, also known as noradrenaline, is part of your body’s ‘fight or flight’ response. It Increases alertness, arousal and attention and affects your sleep-wake cycle. In times of extreme stress, exercise and excitement, Norepinephrine levels can stay elevated for up to 48 hours. So, that last match could impact your sleep for TWO days. But that’s not it.

The UK will be in over 15 billion hours of sleep debt over the course of the Euros

An adrenaline rush - one you might experience from watching your team live - can last up to one hour in extreme situations. If you are one of those experiencing extreme emotions watching football, you could see an impact on your sleep.

So, when you finally try to sleep, that adrenaline rush and high cortisol levels can stop you from sleeping. With an estimated five billion tuning in and group stages consisting of three games for each side in the hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages, fans could be losing a collective 15 billion hours of sleep over the course of the Euros.

Sleep experts reveal the ideal bedtime routine for football fans

1. Spend 20 minutes, at least, doing something you enjoy

If there is something you enjoy that you can do before bed, do it - especially if your team has lost. Try some nice food, go for a walk or watch a TV show. These things that you might enjoy can help release serotonin (the ‘happy hormone’) and this can help you sleep better.

2. Listen to brown noise to drown out any internal thoughts

This could be particularly useful if you have travelled to watch your team and are sharing a room with others. Brown noise - which can sound something like waves crashing - can drown out external noise in your room, as well as any internal thoughts on the match you have just watched.

3. If you need to nap during the day, don’t do it for more than 20 minutes

If you are trying to catch up on sleep and have missed a lot due to the tournament, napping can help. But you shouldn’t do it for more than 20 minutes. Anything longer than 30 minutes can leave you feeling groggy as your body will enter a deep sleep cycle, which you will disrupt if you wake up in the middle of it.

4. Try belly breathing to calm down after a match

Belly breathing can help calm your mind and is a simple technique that involves, you guessed it, your belly. Lie down comfortably and place a hand on your belly - the other one can be placed on your chest - and breathe in through your nose, focusing on your belly rising as you do so. Then. breathe out through your mouth and feel your belly contract. Try to do this five to ten times and repeat when needed.

5. Or try the corpse pose

The corpse pose is exactly what you might think. You lie down flat on your back, with your face and torso facing upwards and your palms also facing upwards. Focus on your breathing, breathing in through your nose and out through the mouth. This pose is designed to relax your body and keep the awareness solely on your breath.

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