stubhub - June 15, 2020

6 ways to recreate live sports atmosphere without fans

How live sports all over the world are reimagining crowds while social distancing

A fan live streaming the start of a sports match on his smartphone

With the Premier League coming back this week and rugby and cricket resuming behind closed doors in the coming months, we took a look at six possible ways to recreate fan atmosphere inside and outside stadiums.

1. Sound option with chants

It's been already a month since the German Bundesliga has resumed behind closed doors - To enhance viewers' experience broadcasters are featuring "fake" crowd reactions triggered over key moments of the game (i.e. louder chants for home vs away goals) and mixed with the original sound of the match. British broadcasters have already announced that they'll take a similar approach with fans having the option to turn crowd sounds on or off on their TVs.

Augsburg make the breakthrough inside the first minute! 💨

A crazy early goal too!

This could be big in the battle to avoid the drop... pic.twitter.com/cVQ7jzi8mw

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 14, 2020

2. Drive-thru football

Danish team FC Midtjylland have turned their stadium parking into a drive-in open space for fans to show up, watch games and cheer in a socially distanced way.

Drive-thru stadium experience 👓

Danish side FC Midtjylland have turned their stadium into a drive-through so over 2,000 fans can still watch games on large screens.

Could we see this in the Premier League?pic.twitter.com/qTUQCVucBN

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 2, 2020

3. FIFA crowds and noises

In Spain La Liga, which resumed last week, is partnering with EA Sports to enhance viewers' experiences not only with fan noises but also placing virtual crowds from iconic versions of the football video game FIFA.

La Liga has inserted what appears to be the crowd polygons from FIFA 98 for PSX pic.twitter.com/kOzzsMqHKX

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 11, 2020

4. Stuffed animals as spectators

To cover the emptiness of its arena South Korean baseball team Hanhwa Eagles has asked his fans to donate stuffed animals; as a result, characters from various cartoons such as Pikachu, Spongebob, Patrick, Winnie the Pooh and Stitch also appeared in the game. Once fans will be allowed back the toys will be donated to a local children's charity.

They stopped serving bear after the 3rd inning. 🍺🐻 pic.twitter.com/znsYcw7ADL

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 5, 2020

5. Fans' cardboard cut outs

Another creative way to fill stadiums, already adopted in Germany and South Korea, is for clubs to allow fans to purchase their own cut out by uploading their picture. The cut outs will then resemble a crowd inside empty stadiums.

Apparently it’s “Bring Your Fake Pet Night*” at the game.

*but you’re only allowed to bring a fake pet if you’re a fake audience member pic.twitter.com/lHf0XFnz9c

— Raven (@theraveneffect) June 12, 2020

6. Limited capacity with distanced seating

The CBPL, Taiwan's professional baseball league, has been allowing fans inside stadium with strong safety measures such as mandatory face masks, temperature checks and contact tracing. In Europe other sports leagues have been planning similar initiatives in the coming months but guaranteeing social distancing upon goal celebrations could prove to be challenging...