Fox broadcast its first MLB game of the year featuring virtual fans to fill an otherwise empty Wrigley Field, and actual fans on Twitter didn’t seem to like what they were seeing.
The tech is impressive, but the application to the broadcast needs some serious tweaking. Fox has the ability to scale the amount of fans in each park, and even change fans’ apparel to suit game-day weather. At the time of the first pitch, Wrigley was mostly full of virtual fans, but there were a few pockets of empty seats in the outfield bleachers
Via The Verge:
“Fox Sports producers will be able to control things like how full the virtual ‘crowds’ are for a given game, what weather fans are dressed for, and what percentage of the crowd will be home fans versus away, although the company is still figuring out how it’ll make some of those decisions.”
Virtual fans aren’t continually present on the broadcast, however, which is very jarring. For the usual behind the pitcher TV view, the seats behind home plate are empty. Virtual fans only ever appeared when the broadcast switched to an angle facing the outfield, so fans were constantly popping in and out of the presentation.
Virtual Fans being Tested in Baseball 😳🤣 pic.twitter.com/2ftD2tu6KR
— Shake4ndbake (@ItsShake4ndbake) July 25, 2020
Some fans tweeted that they didn’t mind the experiment, but the majority seemed to be against virtual fans.
Virtual fans but no actual game sounds? I hate everything about this pic.twitter.com/fbsyi2107B
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) July 25, 2020
FOX can just stop with the virtual fans now pic.twitter.com/HczIps95UA
— Nick (@_ChickenJoe_) July 25, 2020
Did FOX’s fake fans forget to show up? pic.twitter.com/y0mQ7Uxfq8
— Luis M., President of the Bryan Mullins Fan Club (@lcm1986) July 25, 2020
Fox broadcast sucks
Not like, the broadcast itself
The fake fans
That are for some reason ONLY in the Bleachers
— Moiph (@MarcusNewling) July 25, 2020
The virtual fans on #Fox are horrendous. I'd rather see cardboard cutouts.
— Jake Wojciechowski (@jake_wojo) July 25, 2020
Adding crowd noise? Like it. The virtual fans? Hate it. It’s inconsistent. Some angles on FOX have it. Others don’t. It’s distracting.
— Brett Rasdall (@BrettRasdall) July 25, 2020
Is it okay that I don’t mind the fake fans in the bleachers on Fox.
— Evan Altman (@DEvanAltman) July 25, 2020
Fox rolling with digital fans in the stands for their MLB coverage… But then sometimes they're not there. Feels like they need to blow into their Nintendo cartridge and restart the game pic.twitter.com/oqWnPvXk33
— Ray Lane (@runcoach_ray) July 25, 2020
The virtual fans don't look bad. They're not seen from every camera angle FOX is using.
— Michael Silvers (@msilvers1979) July 25, 2020
Told my Dad that Fox Sports was adding virtual fans to their games and the fans would do The Wave. His first question: “Will they do The Wave at the absolute worst time?” My Dad is the best. 😂
— Amanda Rykoff (@amandarykoff) July 25, 2020
Congrats, Fox Sports on EASILY the worst solution to empty baseball stadiums. The combination of crowd noise that's pumped way too loud in the soundtrack and edits around the stadium featuring inconsistently added digital fans is 100% only a distraction and not an enhancement.
— Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) July 25, 2020
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