The pandemic is turning sports into video games

The Week

"How do you 'take me out with the crowd' when there's a global pandemic? By filling the stadium with people who can't get sick, says Jeva Lange. Fox Sports announced Thursday that its broadcasts of Major League Baseball games this season will utilize 'cutting-edge' technology to populate the stands with 'virtual fans.' The Sims-like creations will wear their teams colors and thin out if the game is a blowout. They'll cheer, boo, and — abominably — even do the wave. If Fox's intention was to make empty stadiums less eerie, they've definitely failed. But its choice represents an even bigger shift in professional sports: the creep toward becoming more and more like video games."