Have you been tuning into Major League Baseball’s shortened spring training games?
As with every other sports league and virtually every event, there are no fans in the stands due to COVID-19. In a sport that I personally find to be way to slow, having no fans could make the game even harder to watch.
However, MLB is taking a page from some European soccer leagues and is pumping in crowd noise, according to ESPN. The audio will come from the league’s official video game, MLB The Show.
This could be an opportunity for a sound system upgrade for many ballparks, and an opportunity for an integrator specializing in stadium sound systems.
Read Next: The 2.2 Million-Pound 4K HDR Video Board at SoFi Stadium is Now Complete
Taking a cue from two European soccer leagues, Major League Baseball will play crowd noise from its official video game through ballpark sound systems during games. Stadium sound engineers will have access to around 75 different effects and reactions, according to MLB, which has provided teams with crowd sounds captured from MLB The Show.
San Diego Studios, a branch of Sony Interactive Entertainment, compiled the noise during games over several seasons.
Clubs started using the sounds during summer camp games and will be able to test them further during exhibition games.
At first, I had a hunch that this would sound terrible, forced and very inauthentic. But, after seeing a few videos, it’s pretty darn close to the real thing and not at all overbearing like I thought it would be.
Listen for yourself:
#Rays Morton pitching to Tsutsugo to start intrasquad game, with the piped-crowd noise. (After the groundout, #Rays break MLB’s don’t throw the ball around the infield rule. That and no spitting seem to be toughest for players.) pic.twitter.com/LfmiRp4XNR
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 19, 2020
However, the cardboard cutout fans take it way too far.
Mookie looking comfortable in that Dodger blue 🔥
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/SRmOa6wDAy
— Bleacher Report MLB (@BR_MLB) July 21, 2020
To recap: fake crowd noise doesn’t actually sound so bad, and it’s opportunity for audio integrators to provide some easy system upgrades to ballparks and sports venues globally.
Cardboard fans, however, are very silly. Don’t do this.
