Joe Buck Says FOX Will Use Fake Crowd Noise and Fake Fans on NFL Broadcasts and Hopefully He's Joking

Even if the NFL season starts on time, the coronavirus pandemic will likely force the league to bar fans from showing up to games in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

While such an eerily silent atmosphere might be alien to NFL fans on TV, FOX's apparent plan to alleviate that uneasiness is completely absurd. Joe Buck said this week that FOX will use digital replicas of fans in the stands in addition to piping in fake crowd noise. And we really hope he was just yanking our chains.

You can't be serious, Joe.

Fans know the stands are going to be empty. Teams will be playing in totally empty stadiums. Trying to pull the wool over our eyes and put computerized fans in the stands is just ridiculous and, honestly, quite patronizing.

Fans will still watch games even if fans don't attend. If anything, ratings will go UP following such a difficult sports drought. There is no reason to give us all this silliness, FOX!

The stadiums might be deathly silent, but that won't stop FOX from trying to maintain the illusion that the stands are jam-packed with fans screaming at the top of their lungs. Get ready for NFL games to look like the podracing scenes from the "The Phantom Menace," as half of the seats might be occupied by computer-generated cutouts.

Fingers crossed that ol' Joe was just having a laugh here.