Since I was a kid I’ve been interested in a variety of sports leagues. The entertainment makes so much sense to me: witnessing the very best at the top, the tribal nature of following a team, the narratives of players and teams. There’s something special about witnessing a buzzer-beater shot or a last-minute touchdown with 20,000 other fans.
COVID-19 has sparked change across numerous industries, professional sports leagues were no exception. Leagues across the world had to pause play, adapt, and resume to appease fans, players, team owners, and league staff. While many of these changes will stay temporary some may be with us to stay.
Fake Fans
Imagine being a professional athlete, all the preparation and training in your life to compete with the best. These athletes are used to performing at their peak in front of thousands of fans a night. With the pandemic, this number has been reduced to nearly zero.
Leagues had to compensate for these changes. One of the first was South Korea’s KBO League, ultimately deciding to place stuffed animals in seats. I fully endorse this change, although it reminds me of my childhood fear of the stuffed animals at car washes.
The NFL has done something similar, albeit more realistic, placing cardboard cutouts of fans in each end zone. This was likely done to help kickers, who have probably one of the mentally taxing jobs in football. Many leagues across the world have followed including Germany’s Bundesliga, the MLB, and Australia’s NRL.
Amplified Crowd Noise
Another big aspect of competing as a professional athlete is the cheering, chants, etc. The auditory feedback that a crowd has reacted to a crazy play or shit call is difficult to replicate.
Both the NBA and NFL have allowed some ‘fake crowd noise’ prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, some teams have even got punished for their supplemental noise being above specific decibel measures. Now, both leagues are enabling teams to pump in crowd noise both in stadiums/arenas and for the televised broadcasts.
Some of these pre-recorded sounds are in partnerships with video games based on the leagues such as the NBA 2K and Madden series. Japan’s premier soccer league is experimenting with authentic crowd noise via mobile apps.
The Absence of Noise
One of the leagues that haven’t introduced any of these concepts is the UFC. Without a crowd cheering, you’re able to hear coaches yell instructions, whether punches land, and the many other sounds that these modern gladitors make.
The lack of background noise provides a unique viewer experience. When the NBA announced their return I was disappointed hearing there would be fake noise. The lack of crowd noise enables the opportunity to hear raw audio, like the UFC has, providing us with raw coaching instructions, athlete emotions, etc.
The NBA Bubble and Virtual Fans
*Disclaimer: The NBA is my favorite sports league, go Pacers.*
After a brief hiatus, the NBA returned with a ‘bubble’, within Disney World, where a majority of their teams and league staff stayed in hotels. Allowing teams to compete with little outside contact.
Disney’s gyms were outfitted with screens that stretched the entire court. Allowing teams to display graphics that would otherwise be shown on jumbotrons at their home court.
With these wall-sized screens, the league introduced the ‘Zoom Fan’. Fans of teams were eligible for ‘virtual seats’, small squares on the gigantic walled television. These virtual fans watched the game live on their own devices with their cameras capturing authentic reactions to the game. This along with supplemental noise aimed to replicate the full experience for players.
Boosted by the Bird
Formula 1 is one of the most popular sports in the world. One of the league’s subsidiaries is Formula E, where electric cars are raced. They recently introduced a concept called FANBOOST. Fans can tweet at their favorite drivers enabling them a boost that can be used at their discretion.
This is something straight out of a video game. Similar to the virtual fan concept it’s an interesting way for fans to interact virtually.
Moving Forward in the Business of Sports Entertainment
Similar to how other industries have been affected by the pandemic, it will be interesting to gauge which of these, if any, will remain long-term. My view is that more fan interaction is only better for these leagues. I’d take the over on concepts like FANBOOST, especially if there’s a way to leverage them for league profits.
Something that’s also missing is real-time fan to fan interactions. Right now this is largely limited to discussing and reacting to sports on Twitter, Reddit, and other social media. Imagine if teams were able to host their own streams and chats, allowing all of their fans to interact with each other.
Teams/leagues could get more exclusive with this as well, leveraging subscription services akin to OnlyFans, where they could provide exclusive audio and video coverage. I’ve always said I would pay a hefty amount to be able to hear every player mic’d up and uncensored.
Long live sports entertainment.
Some links found this week:
Saudi Arabia announced a linear 100 mile city
A very compassionate dog faking their limp
How a flight got Kanye West out of 53 million of debt
Thailand and cannabis consumption
A collection of cool concept cars
drew