Usually there's no way I can watch all the live sports action on TV, but these days it's pretty easy: Bundesliga on the weekends, some UFC, some NASCAR stuff and The Match this past Sunday on TNT.
Did I miss anything? (I'm not sure how to pick up South Korean Baseball but I can try.)
We're about two and half months away from the first Texans preseason game. As an organization, we handle our own preseason TV broadcast production, so I've been very interested in how this might look just in case the NFL is forced to hold games with no fans present.
Bundesliga was a surprise. There was some crowd noise piped in and the players attempt to socially distance from one another in breaks in the action. The empty seats look odd, but this might be something we're going to have to get used to in a few sports.
The MLB is going over their economics, which are complex in a shortened season with attendance revenue eliminated. The NBA has already played most of its campaign and has a bio-dome type of option in the works in Orlando to finish up starting in late July. The NHL is prepared to do business by going straight into their post season with an expanded field and no fans.
As for us?
There's still plenty of time for the NFL to make adjustments. The plan is to have the stadiums as full as possible. I can tell you that as we get ready for the preseason schedule, we're loading up for the regular menu of TV presentation.
That doesn't mean we haven't talked about what-ifs. I personally don't like fake crowd noise piped into the broadcast audio. I'd be in favor of stadium noise that's heard on TV and radio as part of the ambiance of what's happening around the players. That makes a lot of sense. You still want to give the players some atmosphere and the home audience should ideally experience some of what the players are sensing.
If there's limited capacity, that should take care of some noise, but what will it be like for fans sitting apart if it comes to that?
It's going to be fascinating to see it all come together. We're about 11 weeks from seeing our first Texans game-action. That's about the same period of time since the lock-down began. A lot of things can happen.
