It is absolutely unheard of to be watching major league sports on television and not to see fans in the crowd. Even at your least popular match up in sports, the stadiums, arenas, and ballparks are always full. Due to the Covid-19 virus, sporting events are being played fanless this year and it really is a strange sight to see. With MLB being the first sport to play and air on live tv without their fans, they have come up with a created way to “fill” the stadium and get the fans involved.

The MLB Opening Day was on July 27, 2020. The athletes and team staff entered the ballpark, but that was it. Then the idea of cutouts occurred. Teams all over the MLB are beginning to fill the empty stands with the cardboard cutout program, in which fans can pay to have a cardboard likeness of themselves in the stands during home games. The price of the cutout varies team by team as does where your cutout “sits.” This unique idea provides a way for fans to still interact with their favorite team while allowing the teams to bring in some revenue. Some of the teams like the Boston Red Sox have a rather high price for their cutout but it includes more. According to MLB.com “A $500 donation to the Red Sox Foundation will yield you a fan cutout that will sit atop the Green Monster for a portion of the season. If a Red Sox home run ball hits the cutout, that fan will receive the autographed home run ball, two Green Monster tickets for a 2021 home game, a custom Red Sox jersey, and a video replay of the home run. Proceeds are donated to the COVID-19 relief in Massachusetts.” Other teams such as the New York Mets are offering free cutouts to season ticket holders who have renewed their tickets for the 2021 season. At the end of the season, the fans will get the cutout sent back to them to keep as a souvenir. As you watch the games, you will see some “trolling” fans in the stands. Hall of Famer, Chipper Jones,  put on an appearance at Citi Field to haunt the Mets in their own ballpark. Many celebrities have been spotted across the MLB parks as well as some important tributes to late employees and fans of the team. This clever idea keeps the excitement for the fans alive and allows them to interact with their favorite teams.

Although 2020 has been plagued with the coronavirus, we are seeing creative ways that the sports industry are keeping the spirits of players and fans alive. Baseball is the only major sport that is being televised right now, but we have no doubt that the cut outs will continue as new sport seasons start. This idea of the cutouts is both beneficial to the fans and the teams as it creates a bridge of involvement for the fans while giving the illusions of normalcy to the viewer of a “full” ballpark. We hope to see more unique ways for fan interaction with their favorite teams as the season progresses, but for now we are just happy to watch live sports!

Major League Baseball is scheduled to launch its 2020 regular season. Amid everything that has been going on with the novel coronavirus, all major league sports have been cancelled since the middle of March, but that is all about to end. Starting July 23, 2o2o, Major League Baseball will begin its season. Although they are scheduled to start, baseball may look a bit different this year.

After a nearly insufferable 5 months with little to no entertainment, people are ecstatic to tune in to watch live sports again beginning with the MLB on Thursday July 23. The MLB has announced that they will be scheduling a 60-game season without the fans. As more information comes out, many questions are arising about what this season will look like. The big question being whether or not the season will finish. Opening day was scheduled to take place on March 26, 2020 but was cancelled due to the beginning spread of Covid-19 in the United States. Although we have more cases now than we did back then, we have more information about the virus and how it spreads. The season will definitely start, but will it be completed? New safety protocol has been put into place to protect against the spread of the virus for the players and staff. The overwhelming concern is the risk of spread as the players travel across the country at a time when that’s inadvisable. They can then come in contact with people who have little to no interest in the success of the MLB. What will the response be if an outbreak occurs in the MLB? Will the season continue while both Covid-19 and the flu could be in the forecast in the late fall and early winter? These hard and morbid questions are those that the MLB must be ready and willing to answer.

We are all on the edge of our seat waiting for things to get back to normal, and as of now, we are on the right track. With entertainment beginning to show its face, many questions and concerns arise. The MLB is taking the first steps in providing us with the sports we have craved so much and we are all interested to sit back and watch as it unfolds. Hopefully all will go well and by 2021 we can pack the stands with fans to cheer on their favorite team. When that time does come, please consider VIPTIX for all your ticket needs. Now “Play Ball!”