Vitesse Buiten Spel: Balancing entertainment and social value to create relatedness and belonging among the younger supporters

This graduation project focuses on balancing entertainment and social value of football to create relatedness and belonging among the younger supporters in Arnhem and Vitesse. Relatedness and belonging are two of the thirteen fundamental needs defined by Desmet and Fokkinga (2018). Designing for fundamental needs is one of the eight approaches to emotional design. The projectThe social function football used to provide was what sociologists call “socialization”: the modification of the child’s behavior as they mature, and their assimilation into a grown-up world through customs, rituals and more (Tempany, 2014). According to Tempany, football has never been safer, better televises or more entertaining. Moreover, it has never been this individual and less about the culture of the people who shaped the football clubs (Tempany, 2014). Sports industry leaders cite the shift in consumer behavior of younger generations as the ‘top threat faced by the industry’ (PwC, 2018).Dutch football clubs are in search of new possibilities to involve and renew the connection with the younger generations of supporters. Vitesse is one of the football clubs that undergo difficulties to connect with younger supporters (age twelve (12) to sixteen (16)). Vitesse wants to play a more prominent role in the life of the younger supporters. In doing so, Vitesse is searching for answers to how they can (re)connect with the younger supporters. Research and design aimDuring the analysis phase, a user study is done to understand how the younger supporters of Vitesse fulfill their fundamental needs within the context of football. The second objective is to find out whether the fulfillment of their fundamental needs differs from older generations. The study aims to identify elements that affect the fundamental needs defined by Desmet and Fokkingga (2018) to find which needs affect the emotional bond with Vitesse subsequently. The main insight derived from the user study is; the younger supporter of Vitesse supports Vitesse in their own since most of their peers support other football clubs. While the need to support collectively is present. They get in contact with their peers mainly through Fifa and other digital channels; fulfilling their need for belonging and relatedness and creating a more significant distance between them and Vitesse. This led to the aim to design an activity between fellow supporters and peers that allows them to grow social relationships, where the activity is guided and organized by Vitesse and its football players. Vitesse Buiten Spel‘Vitesse Buiten Spel’ is a game platform based on football battles that allow the younger supporters to play football against and with each other at different places throughout Arnhem. The concept lifts playing football outside to a higher level by providing battles that are guided and demonstrated by the team of Vitesse and linked to specific places in Arnhem, aiming to achieve a positive social impact in Arnhem. The game is built-up in four elements that form a connection between the users, Arnhem and Vitesse to create a sense of belonging and relatedness. These elements are; (1) Who - Peers, (2) What - Play a Discover, (3) Where - Arnhem, (4) How - Game. An app is developed to connect the four elements creating a connection between the game platform and the real world. Although the fulfillment of relatedness and belonging is difficult to assess, the user evaluation with children between the ages of twelve to sixteen years old in Arnhem reveals that ‘Buiten Spel’ helps to connect them to fellow peers and supporters. Moreover, the evaluation shows that the concept allows them to grow social relationships, stimulating them to be more involved with Vitesse while taking playing outside to a higher level.