On Matchday 8, the busiest night of the UEFA Champions League, Heineken® ran a real-life social experiment in New York to support the launch of its new global campaign, Fans Have More Friends, proving shared fandom can turn strangers into real connections.
Heineken® this week launches Fans Have More Friends, a new global sponsorship platform built on the belief that fandom is one of the quickest ways to spark a connection between strangers.
Rooted in Heineken®’s long-standing belief in the importance of sociability, and inspired by the book of the same name (Fans Have More Friends) by Ben Valenta and David Sikorjak, the platform reflects how shared passions help people connect naturally. It’s the first time Heineken® is bringing together its sponsorships across football, Formula 1® and music festivals, using fandom as both a social catalyst and a way to elevate social experiences in a world that can feel increasingly lonely.
New research commissioned by Heineken® shows that three-quarters (75%) of fans say their fandom has helped them meet new people, making it one of the fastest ways to create bonds at a time when many people are missing IRL connections more than ever before.
Three in five (59%) say it’s helped them forge some of their closest friendships and 75% say watching sports with other fans, even if they’re not fans of the same team, makes the experience better. Football topped the list as one of the greatest social connectors with 72% of fans saying language is not a barrier when it comes to making football mates in a bar.
To put the findings to the test, Heineken® partnered with Zac Alsop to carry out a social experiment designed to test whether fans would really show up for one another when it mattered. The experiment followed Joe, an Australian living in New York, who found himself without anyone to watch Liverpool play Qarabağ FK in the final group match of the UEFA Champions League. Like many people, despite having a life and routine in a big city, he was facing the prospect of watching one of football’s biggest nights alone.
To help his friend and prove that Fandom is a great way to connect, Zac handed out flyers across Manhattan with Joe’s face and a simple request – Have A Beer With Me – inviting fellow fans to join him to watch the match on January 28th. No incentives – just an open invitation to the football community.
Fans from across New York responded in droves, with hundreds turning up to support a fellow fan they had never met before – and the event quickly gained traction across social media.
Unbeknownst to Joe, Heineken® transformed Central Park Tavern – where the meet up took place – into a Champions League-level viewing experience, flying in the UEFA Champions League trophy alongside football legend Bastian Schweinsteiger who was behind the bar serving beers for fans who made the effort to come.
The experiment in New York kicks off a multi-channel platform launch by Heineken®, which sees the Fans Have More Friends television ad debut this week in the USA, with a further 50 markets to follow.
The campaign TVC directed by multi-award-winning director Frederik Bond and produced by Stink Films, celebrates the spontaneous friendships that spark between fans every time a game, a match or a gig is on. Featuring Heineken®’s most renowned brand ambassadors, including Max Verstappen, Virgil van Dijk and DJ Martin Garrix, the film captures the essence of fans coming together, depicting famous faces, among others, bonding over a shared passion for sport and music.
The platform will continue to roll out throughout 2026 with 360 assets and at key moments in the football, F1® and music calendar – including the UEFA Champions League Final, UEFA Women’s Champions League Final, Coachella and Grand Prix weekends worldwide.
Nabil Nasser, Global Head of Heineken®, said:
“Fandom has an incredible ability to bring people together. Across football, F1® and music, we see how shared passions help people meet, connect and feel part of something bigger. As a champion for social life, Heineken®’s new platform – Fans Have More Friends – is about turning those shared moments into real connections wherever they are in the world.”
Bruno Bertelli, Global CEO LePub, CCO LePub Worldwide added:
“Fans Have More Friends is built on a simple human truth: passion connects people faster than anything else. By turning fandom into a platform for real-world interaction, we wanted to create an ecosystem that doesn’t just celebrate fans, but actively brings them together, transforming shared passion into shared experiences”.
David Sikorjak, co-author of the book Fans Have More Friends, said:
“As someone with years of experience with the emotional ups and downs of the fan experience, I have always had a sense that being a fan is about being part of a community. But after years of studying fandom, I can say that the evidence behind fandom’s social benefits is conclusive. The bigger the fan, the more friends; the more friends, the happier, more fulfilled, and more satisfied one is. With this new platform from Heineken, I’m excited to see a brand lean into this insight by inspiring fans to come together and make the most of these social benefits.”
To see the results of the social experiment visit: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUFrGUAjljC/
To watch Heineken’s Fans Have More Friends campaign visit: https://youtu.be/Do8BzdRqUw8 [Long Edit] https://youtu.be/qchlPHMhHnE [Football Edit]
Source: LePub Worldwide
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