AI Predicts Euros 2024 Anthem – Could It Be a Beloved Beatles Classic?

Chants sung on matchdays are a powerful factor in uniting fans far and wide. With the first Euros match being played on Friday 14th June, which chants could be most popular in rallying teams and fans alike this year?

In an attempt to find out, the experts at Ticketgum harnessed AI technology to predict two new Euros chants that can be used for the 2024 season. Additionally, they provided an expert comment on the effects of football fan chants on team performance and fan solidarity.

Song 1 – to the tune of We Will Rock You by Queen

Pre-Chorus:

Every country’s pride, with colors high,

From the north to the south, we reach for the sky,

In every match, in every play,

We hear the roar, and we proudly say,

Chorus:

We will, we will score goals,

We will, we will score goals.

Song 2 – to the tune of Roar by Katy Perry

Pre-Chorus:

You hear the crowd, it’s getting loud,

Every kick and every goal, we make it count,

From the pitch to the stands, we stand proud,

Together we shout, together we shout.

Chorus:

I got the eye of the champion, the fighter,

Dancing through the fire,

‘Cause we are the champions,

And you’re gonna hear us roar,

Louder, louder than a lion,

‘Cause we are the champions,

And you’re gonna hear us roar.

Dr Rebekah Wanic, a Mindset Psychologist at Vent to Reinvent, comments on the power of fan chants and their effects on players and fan solidarity:

Participating in a joint activity, like chanting, can promote solidarity with a group identity, such as football fans. Whether chants are supportive or aggressive can affect subsequent behavior through various processes, such as deindividuation or normative social influence.

The findings on whether chanting promotes team performance are mixed and ultimately difficult to investigate effectively because many different variables are at play in real-world situations. Social facilitation theory suggests that if the audience serves to increase arousal and players are skilled, then their performance is likely to improve. However, fans aren’t just present and they can chant to cheer or jeer.

Experimental research in the lab suggests that athletes from different sports might be differentially impacted by support or heckling and this is likely based on the regularity with which chanting occurs during regular play and the specific aspect of performance undertaken (e.g., it might be different during a match vs. taking a penalty shot).

Recent work on the impact of COVID restrictions that led teams to play without fans in the stands has shown that while in some cases home-team performance lost some of its edge (e.g., slight reductions in points or increase in penalties for the home team), in other cases there was no noticeable change in outcome. This hints that fan presence may not play that much of a role in player performance.

Credit: https://www.ticketgum.com/.