The MLB season is underway, and baseball fans are expressing mixed opinions about America’s pastime. The reason is that fans cannot currently attend baseball games due to COVID-19 concerns, so MLB stadiums are trying to recreate the ambiance. Some are piping in fake crowd noise from video games while others are placing cardboard cutouts in the stands. Some stadiums are putting virtual fans in the stands for the viewers at home.
With stadiums altering reality to account for the lack of bodies in the seats, fans at home are expressing their displeasure. Many despise the look of the virtual fans and feel that this is just a bad way to watch baseball. Others are proclaiming their dislike of the crowd noise. Fans are happy about more sports returning to television amid the pandemic, but they are still upset about the viewing experience.
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@MLB @cubs the fake crowd noise sucks. It’s weird. Of the few baseball fans I know, none of them like it. Just let it be quiet. You guys are acting like this season is every other season, and it’s just not. Embrace the weirdness. Let’s hear the players talk. Let’s enjoy quiet
— 🍕K1down🍕 (@k1down) July 26, 2020
Fake crowd noise during MLB games is terrible. It’s awkward, artificial-sounding and makes me more painfully aware of how un-normal these games are, not less.
— Charlie (@CharlieFreyre) July 26, 2020
Fans on Twitter is the new crowd for these games. Broadcasts should find creative ways to lean into and integrate that.
FTLOG, can we just focus on the players? Nobody watches sports to see what the fans are doing in the stands.
— Ron Antonette (@RAntonette) July 25, 2020
What?! #fakefanssuck
— Cindi Lynch (@CindiTheTrainer) July 25, 2020
I’m watching the Cubs/Brewers game and the “virtual fans” thing is AWFUL. The piped-in crowd noise might be something we can adjust to, but kill the CGI people.
— Blake Wilcox (@pantherman007) July 25, 2020
Totally agree. Fake is stupid. The fake noise is awful too. Love the idea of some interesting camera angles that couldn’t be attempted with fans.
— Lance Coler (@tvcoler) July 26, 2020
Not really a fan of all of the extra audio in the background of these @MLB games. It just feels so forced and fake😕
— Aidan Hosler (@AidanHosler1) July 26, 2020
You know the fans on the televised baseball games are fake…nobody is on their iPhone or drinking beer. #MLB #MLBfoxsports
— Distilled_Wisdom (@DistilledWisdo1) July 26, 2020
@MLB, recorded crowd noise on broadcasts really is a deep fake. If you want to include profanity from some unruly pretend fans, that would be interesting!
— Robert Ballou (@reball01) July 26, 2020
Hey @MLB we just sat at home through a start that included fake noise, virtual fans and cardboard dogs. If it was ok for Fauci and friends to see a game live, it’s ok for us. #letthefansin #fansnow pic.twitter.com/IamlpDWzbZ
— John Fricke (@JohnFricke) July 26, 2020
Fox’s digital fans gotta go. Just a ton of dudes alternating resting their chin in their hand and then 2-second delayed reactions. pic.twitter.com/fLh7EYXTMX
— Matt Young (@Chron_MattYoung) July 25, 2020
I watched some baseball last night on TV. It was so eerie! The fake cheering and no one in the stands! You can also tell it takes affect on the players as well. That’s what drives them! The fans cheering and Hollering! It felt depressing!
— Ashley W (@Ash_WPS4Life) July 26, 2020
I don’t mind this virtual crowd thing at all 🤷🏻♀️ https://t.co/dmj6oOf5p9
— MintyBets (@MintyBets) July 25, 2020
The #MLB animated fans is surreal. I don’t know what’s real anymore. Are the players real?
— 24AheadDotCom Backup (@24AheadDotCom) July 26, 2020
Wasn’t there a #StarTrek or #TwilightZone ep with fake audiences?#baseball #beisbol
