Digitalizing everyday life in Denmark during the corona crisis: The construction of an ethnographic archive

In late May 2020, a match took place for the first time in two and half months in the best Danish soccer league. Like most other aspects of social life in Denmark, the league had been locked down since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic on 11 March. By the middle of May, restrictions were gradually being lifted. Players could return to the field but fans were not allowed physically back on the stands. This particular match, however, was not entirely without an audience. Virtually convened in a large Zoom meeting while following the match on TV, fans were encouraged by the club to reinvent the social experience. In turn, their interactions were televised to the players on the field via a 200 m2 screen and accompanying sound system located in the stadium. The fans showed up in their club jerseys and scarves, waving banners with familiar slogans and generally emulating the kind of visual support that the home team would experience during a game. They had met early to get fired up before kick-off and brought ample supplies of beer for the occasion.