Innovation

A Hackathon for a better UEFA EURO 2024

Published at 22 November 2022

On October 26th, the Pitch Day of the UEFA EURO 2024 Hackathon took place in the Host City Stuttgart in Germany. Innovators, professionals and fans could sign up for the Hackathon with their ideas about digital transformation, sustainability and fan experience.

“We were presented with many innovative, creative and surprising ideas for one of the coolest locations in football”, says Andreas Kroll, Managing Director of in.Stuttgart Veranstaltungsgesellschaft to VfB Stuttgart. “That's how we imagined the hackathon. Many of the ideas and concepts presented today have the potential to be further developed.”

The Hackathon was put in place to involve football fans in the journey of creating a more innovative infrastructure for the UEFA EURO 2024. In about a month, the teams that got chosen for the Hackathon got to prepare for their presentation on Pitch Day to convince the jury that their idea is worthy of being realised for the UEFA EURO 2024. Andreas Kroll (Managing Director of Stuttgart Veranstaltungsgesellschaft), Alexander Wehrle (VfB-chairman) and Cacau (Host City and VfB brand ambassador) were part of the jury.

The winners

The winners in the category “Fans” are Michael Schell and Florian Pitschel. They created the “Becher Oracle”, which makes it easier for fans to recycle plastic cups while adding a playful spin to it. This way they created a sustainable and fun experience for the fans during football matches. “Simple recycling starts with unmixed collection. That's why we have developed an intuitive and internationally functioning solution – the Becher Oracle.” The winning duo stated their thanks to all organisations involved for the opportunity to participate in the Hackathon.

The winner in the category “Start-ups” was Valentin Hawener, who is the Head of Strategy & Venture Development at the company anybill. anybill is an alternative to paper receipts at venues which was created to bring down the use of paper. “With anybill, receipts can be issued in digital form in stadiums or at many other venues – 100 percent legally compliant, sustainable and at the same time cost-saving. Many thanks to the organizers of this great event. We look forward to working together – with the aim of replacing paper receipts with digital receipts in the host city of Stuttgart in the near future.”

An informative panel

On the Pitch Day, Sander van Stiphout of the Johan Cruijff ArenA was a part of a panel about innovation in sports and events infrastructure. This panel took place with Hartfried Wolff (Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport), Jan Kohlmeyer (Climate Fund City of Stuttgart) and Katharina Aguilar (7places). This made the day an informative experience for every person present.