Following the lead of Major League Baseball, the NFL is reportedly considering using virtual fans for televised games Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com is reporting.
The league must get creative because of the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. The Las Vegas Raiders have announced that no fans will attend home games for the inaugural season in Allegiant Stadium, and fans will not be permitted in several other stadiums across the league under current conditions.
Some teams still are hoping for 33% to 40% capacity in their stadiums to start the season, but that’s hardly a slam dunk given the national spike in positive tests.
Either way, the NFL is prepared to enhance the game-day experience with potentially sizable virtual backdrops inside stadiums, the source said.
The NFL went with the virtual fan look during the NFL Draft and could follow the NBA and MLB with different variations of the model.
