While the Game is Real the Crowd is Digital: Related Stories and Resources
The Related Stories and Resources page is where you can find additional material related to the essay While the Game is Real the Crowd is Digital by Terence C. Gannon. Items below appear in reverse chronological order based on the date of original publication.
Fox Sports Will Fill Empty Baseball Stadiums with Virtual Fans that React to What’s Happening on the Field CNBC, July 23rd, 2020 by Jessica Golden. As predicted in the April article, it was really just a matter of time before pro sports got to this place — putting digital crowds in the seats during live game feeds. It was really only a question of who and when. Turns out the answer is Fox Sports which retained the services of Silver Spoon Animation of Brooklyn, New York using Pixatope software out of Oslo, Norway. Initial impressions of the end product are pretty good but will likely benefit from refinement over time. Fox is also considering the same technology for NFL football games to start in the fall.
MLB Fans’ Boos and Cheers Will Influence Game Atmosphere at Spectator-less Stadiums CNN, July 22nd, 2020 by Allen Kim. There a number of teams putting cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands which, candidly, is an unpredicted twist. However, from the original article back in April: “Tap the Cheer button on the app. Or maybe the Wildly Cheer button. The refs miss a call so obvious that everybody saw it but them? Tap the Boo button. My button taps are then aggregated in real time with the taps of all the other fans watching and the combined signal governs the response of the digital crowd we’re watching on TV in real time.” This seems pretty close to what is referenced in the article, less the digital crowd mixed in with the live TV feed.
Norwich City FC vs. Burnley FC NBC Sports, July 18th, 2020. The experimental introduction of digital crowds continues. Today’s broadcast of the Premier League fixture between Norwich and Burnley featured piped-in crowd noise. The option to watch the same match without it was available through the broadcaster’s internet properties. Does that mean the mainstream audience on broadcast TV were considered a better bet for the addition of the sound? It’s also interesting that advertisers like Lotus jumped on all those empty seats to feature some of their advertising. Perhaps that, as much as anything, would determine why a digital crowd sitting in the stands would not eventually be added.
NBA Reportedly Considering Adding 2K Crowd Sounds to Restarted Game Broadcasts NBC Sports, June 8th, 2020 by Kurt Helin. “The NBA is considering [adding crown noise] for its restarted games in Orlando, but using the crowd effects from the NBA 2K video game, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic. He adds that the league and National Basketball Players’ Association are still negotiating it.”
Remote cheering app could boost atmosphere in Japan’s empty stadiums The Guardian, May 27th, 2020. “When Japan’s coronavirus-hit football league finally resumes in a few weeks’ time, it will be in stadiums devoid of supporters. But a new smartphone app could mean the action won’t unfold in atmosphere-sapping silence…the Remote Cheerer system developed by the Japanese firm Yamaha allows fans following the match on TV, the radio or online to encourage — or berate — players via their smartphones, their voices reverberating around the stadium in realtime via loudspeakers.”
Orlando, Disney World Reportedly ‘Clear Front-Runner’ for NBA’s Return Venue Bleacher Report, May 20, 2020 by Tyler Conway.
