The look and feel of NFL games on television might be drastically different in 2020 if conditions related to the coronavirus pandemic continue into the fall. If fans are prevented from attending games — or if attendance is considerably limited — games are sure to look and sound different.
Could they be better? Or will football without true fan noise be a less exciting product?
That’s the challenge facing broadcast networks as they continue to brainstorm ideas of how a fan-less or sparsely populated environment affects the watchability of NFL games.
We reached out to the NFL’s four major broadcast partners, not counting NFL Network, for their perspectives on planning that’s going into this season’s broadcasts and spoke to executives from ESPN and NBC on how they’re approaching this challenge.