Soccer has returned to our TV screens, and while the game on the grass remains mostly the same, the surroundings are a reminder of the times. The stands are empty and silent, and different leagues and teams are confronting that atmospheric issue in different ways. Some leave the seats bare. Others use tarps, fans in cardboard form, scarves, mannequins that may or may not be sex dolls or advertising to fill the empty space.
Then there’s La Liga, which took a novel approach. The stands in Spanish stadiums remain deserted in real life, but on TV they’re filled with a computer-generated crowd.