# I pit fake crowd noise at athletic events **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 10, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706 "2020-12-10T01:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Astrid1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Astrid1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astrid1)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/21 "2020-12-10T22:25:11Z")
Which sport are you referring to? Yesterday I was zapping and watched some seconds of Champions League football match without paying attention. Is football affected by the fake crowd sound too? It seemed to me a very silent match… If it is it would be horrible. I actually like to hear the coach yelling at players or hear the players telling bad words 🤣😂 ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/22 "2020-12-10T22:33:55Z")
College football and basketball. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/23 "2020-12-11T09:12:19Z")
Yes, I was talking about football, not only the CHampions League though, national leagues too. I watched Barça-Juve on tuesday and multi-live (where the studio decides which game to show, switching from one to the other when a goal is scored or something happens) on wednesday. On tuesday they boo’d and jeered when Juve was awarded two penalty kicks and they screamed uuiiiiii! when Barça came close to Juve’s goal (both times ☹). On wednesday I don’t remember feeeling any difference between the different games, but I was not paying very much attention, so I guess they did the same in all games, otherwise one would notice when switching. I wonder who does the sound effects: the local TV station, UEFA? ---
**Author:** ![Astrid1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Astrid1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astrid1)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/24 "2020-12-11T10:16:45Z")
I wonder if they made a kind of survey asking sports-lovers if they agreed with fake crowd sound and if they preferred it to a silent match. It’s hard to believe that someone voted for it ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/25 "2020-12-11T16:20:31Z")
I dunno about sports lovers, but there’s a few polls if you Google. A lot of them are polls beforehand. I’m trying to find polls after a broadcast. [Here’s one from Yahoo on a Bundesliga broadcast.](https://sports.yahoo.com/bundesliga-broadcast-features-fake-crowd-noise-did-you-like-it-poll-194248793.html) The breakdown is 23% loved it; 25% liked it; 9% indifferent; 15% didn’t like it; 28% hated it. So neither getting a majority, but slightly more positive than negative. But this isn’t specifically “sports lovers” (though I think Bundesliga fans on the American Yahoo page answering the poll are probably more sports lovers than not.) And it’s not a scientific poll. But that’s one take. The [Swansea Independent](https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/swanseacity/members/BrynCartwright/polls/2517/artificial-crowd-noise-for-premier-league-and-champiionship-games-is...), a UK page, also is a bit more pro crowd noise vs anti-crowd noise. (41.2% pro, 23.5% indifference, 35.3% anti) I’m not trying to cherry-pick data – I’m having difficulty finding polls about crowd noise after it has been implemented. The few I found of crowd noise before implementation was 66-75% against, and 25-33% for (in polls that only gave two options.) So a much more negative impression before experiencing it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/26 "2020-12-11T22:25:26Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > College football and basketball. Well there’s your problem right there. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/27 "2020-12-12T22:13:35Z")
This is a Covid thing, but I do remember reading stories about some stadiums ‘enhancing’ the crowd noise (pre-Covid) with extra crowd noise playing through the speakers. Not so unusual these days - some sports cars play fake engine noise in the cabin for better customer satisfaction. And I agree that silent sporting events is kinda weird - but the IMHO the fake crowd thing should be understated and action-appropriate. I once watched some short documentary about laugh tracks in sitcoms, and the creation of it was kind of an art in itself - you had a keyboard keyed to different types of crowd reactions, mixing sliders, etc etc - it wasn’t as simple as joke / laugh, joke / laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/28 "2020-12-12T22:22:34Z")
> [@Randolph](#): > > This is a Covid thing, but I do remember reading stories about some stadiums ‘enhancing’ the crowd noise (pre-Covid) with extra crowd noise playing through the speakers. Were those real stories or rumors? I know lots of people like to accuse stadiums of this but those are mainly urban legends. I know that this is often alleged in the NFL but doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/29 "2020-12-12T23:52:48Z")
> [@Randolph](#): > > I once watched some short documentary about laugh tracks in sitcoms, and the creation of it was kind of an art in itself - you had a keyboard keyed to different types of crowd reactions, mixing sliders, etc etc - it wasn’t as simple as joke / laugh, joke / laugh Not disputing you, but as someone who watches very little sitcoms or anything else with laugh tracks, on the rare occasions I’m exposed to one it sounds fake as hell. Actor says something vaguely flip; roaring noise swells and decays. Other actor says something mildly witty; roaring noise swells and decays. lather rinse repeat for 30 straight minutes. If you hear it all the time it becomes just part of the “scenery”. But if you haven’t been inured to it, it’s very fake. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/30 "2020-12-13T01:36:21Z")
Not a sports buff, but I enjoyed the use of old clips of claps and laughter that Bill Maher was using for a while there. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/31 "2020-12-13T08:35:14Z")
Yeah those were good clips. Should’ve borrowed [the ole stand-by,](https://gfycat.com/fatnaiveamericancrow) as a nod, if anything. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/32 "2020-12-13T09:20:41Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Were those real stories or rumors? I know lots of people like to accuse stadiums of this but those are mainly urban legends. I know that this is often alleged in the NFL but doesn’t happen. The Atlanta Falcons were fined and lost a draft pick due to pumping in fake noise during the 2014/15 seasons. The Saints debuted an obnoxiously loud airhorn siren just before opposing offenses snapped the ball for third downs around the same time. ---
**Author:** ![TheKingOfSoup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheKingOfSoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheKingOfSoup)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/33 "2020-12-13T18:01:58Z")
In the early 1980s, when the Atlanta Braves were losing a hundred games a year, I could afford a ticket once a season or so and thought it was hilarious when I heard recorded crowd noises coming out of the loudspeakers. Eventually I figured out it was because all the games were televised, but my first guess was that the front office was trying to keep the players from getting too depressed to come out of the locker room. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/34 "2020-12-13T21:37:32Z")
When football tried to start here without crowds, there was the suggestion that North Melbourne would have the advantage. Because they were used to playing without a crowd … ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706/35 "2020-12-13T21:59:44Z")
Similar jokes were/are told about professional baseball here in Miami. In normal years the Marlins are handicapped 3 ways: They’re competing for audience against lots of other recreational activities, there’s a general local indifference to baseball, and their utterly hapless on-field performance. I don’t know about the practice in Oz, but here the major sports leagues started pretty early with putting dozens to hundreds of cardboard cutouts of life-size-plus pictures of fans in the stands. Especially in the areas that are background to common camera angles used to televise the game. I’ve seen some long shots of the Marlin’s stadium where I’m sure there are more cutouts in the stands now than I’ve seen real live humans in the stands last year. Ouch! That’s gotta hurt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-fake-crowd-noise-at-athletic-events/927706.md?page=1)