Are fans in grounds necessary for elite football?

[olaftab]

We are about to complete a full season of football at elite level without fans and wall to wall TV coverage of all Premier League games and most Championship matches. There is no drop in broadcast income and with more matches available there is more money coming in from media. In return broadcast media are happy for this unrestricted access and TV audiences are  growing and there is no impact on overseas income for them. Crowd noise is giving the fake impression of fans being there. For TV and armchair fans here and around the world there are no negatives as far as I can see. The media are  making lip service comments like "Can't wait to have crowds back" but do they really care?
This is not a debate about impact of fans in the ground on results, home and away advantage etc this is purely about can we just carry on  with Television only?

[aj2k77]

I find it a shit spectacle and almost pointless without fans to be honest. As decent a season as we are having it's lessened by the fact no one is there to take part in it so it isn't as important to me.

[Martin Carruthers]

Can't think of a single match I've watched all the way through not involving us without a crowd.

[LeeB]

Can't think of a single match I've watched all the way through not involving us without a crowd.

Same here.

[OCD]

Generally teams are doing poorer in home games and better in away games, some teams affected more than others. Packed stadiums and the atmospheres they create add an extra challenge...whether players are able to deal with the additional pressure, whether that be fans getting on the backs of their own players or making it a hostile environment for visiting teams.

I'm glad football has been able to continue without crowds but I'll be glad when crowds are let back in, even for games that I'm not there in person.

[Brend'Watkins]

I don't think so.  Football on the TV in the UK at least is currently well received.  I watch a lot of it as there isn't much else to do in our current plight.  As soon as life gets back to something like normal I will be back to going to VP, some away games and down the pub for the others I can't get to. My TV watching of other games will be limited as other interests take over.

Daily football matches is a welcome distraction and has been  for the last 12 months.  I'm not certain another 12 months of the same would be as popular.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't mind the no crowd matches, except when it is on a channel that doesn't allow you to turn the shit pretend crowd noise off. I like hearing all the moaning and swearing.

[cannock villa]

The longer this is going on the more i'm finding watching the Villa is like a TV show now. This will be the first season in over 35 years i haven't gone to Villa Park to watch a live match and reality is becoming blurred. I look forward to a match now like i look forward to the next episode of Line of Duty

[Brend'Watkins]

I don't mind the no crowd matches, except when it is on a channel that doesn't allow you to turn the shit pretend crowd noise off. I like hearing all the moaning and swearing.

Ha! Don't forget the number of commentator apologies, that's quite amusing too.  I'm actually surprised there's not more of it picked up.

[OCD]

I don't mind the no crowd matches, except when it is on a channel that doesn't allow you to turn the shit pretend crowd noise off. I like hearing all the moaning and swearing.

Ha! Don't forget the number of commentator apologies, that's quite amusing too.  I'm actually surprised there's not more of it picked up.

The commentator apologies are annoying. Just do a warning before the match starts and leave it at that. If they've really got that much of a problem, make the viewer put in an access code at the start of the game.

[SoccerHQ]

It's good we've had an enjoyable season so far (imagine if this all happened anytime between 2010-16 period) but I find the live match watching or listening experience really boring without crowds.

Just watching endless streams of players shouting rattling around empty stands and I've given up listening to matches on radio given WM for instance in last few months have had to do commentary on our away games in the Mailbox so it's what it is, commentating off a tv screen in silence.

I hate it and can't wait for August when at least a decent % of ground can be full again and add some life to games. Been looking at a few of the after match celebrations on YT in last few days after some of our wins last season at VP and it all just feels so hollow at the moment.

Can't wait for these moments again:

[dave.woodhall]

The apologies in boxing are the funniest. You're watching two men battering each other towards unconsciousness but you'll be offended by a bit of swearing?

[paul_e]

This is slightly anecdotal, and is definitely a tangent from the opening post, but looking around on various fan forums and social media I think it's pretty clear that being at the games is hugely important to a lot of people. For me that shows the 'no televised games at 3pm on on a Saturday' thing is a bit out of date, the experience of going to games is just so much more than just watching the match to so many people. I know part of argument is that people will stay home/pub to watch their 'big' team instead of going to watch a small local team but I'd love to see what the evidence for that is.

More on topic I agree with CD that watching without any crowd noise is far better than the fake stuff which is just horrible.

[Lsvilla]

I don't mind the no crowd matches, except when it is on a channel that doesn't allow you to turn the shit pretend crowd noise off. I like hearing all the moaning and swearing.

Ha! Don't forget the number of commentator apologies, that's quite amusing too.  I'm actually surprised there's not more of it picked up.

The commentator apologies are annoying. Just do a warning before the match starts and leave it at that. If they've really got that much of a problem, make the viewer put in an access code at the start of the game.

The apologies make me laugh. If they were sat in our lounge watching some of our games they’d soon realise apologising for the odd word picked up by the pitch mics is not really necessary.

[exigo]

My missus can't wait for the day when I'm back at games every weekend, home and away, rather than yelling obscenities into a screen at home. So, to answer the question, yes fans in grounds is necessary, if only for marriages up and down the country.