FOX Will Test Its Awful Virtual Fans in Bears-Lions Week 1 Matchup

After using virtual fans during its national baseball broadcasts the past couple months, FOX is going to test virtual fans during one of its NFL broadcasts this weekend. The network will debut the football version of virtual fans during Bears-Lions on Sunday.

When FOX announced it would be doing this for baseball, I was fine with it — obviously not having seen it in practice yet. I said the following:

Barstool Sports — Many of the people in the comments of that tweet seem really triggered by this and I legitimately don't understand why. We all know nobody is able to go to the games and this is possibly a way to make the broadcasts look a little more normal.

I say go as all in as you can. I want to see a virtual fan run onto the field this season. I want to see a couple virtual fans get arrested for disorderly conduct on $2 Tuesday. Give me the works.

Well, i would like to take this opportunity to admit that was a very bad take and I was wrong. Because here's a little taste of what FOX's virtual crowds have looked like.

I was all for the experiment, but the experiment failed. And I imagine there will be far more people saying the same thing after watching these video game fans for an NFL game.

Just leave the crowd or lack thereof alone. We know the deal and what sports look like right now. Just let us watch the game.