Spanish soccer returns with computer-generated crowds, and it actually works

Sports are gradually returning to our TV screens after the coronavirus pandemic brought virtually all competition around the world to a sudden halt. If you’re as big a sports addict as me, you’ll probably take what you can get right now, but the broadcast experiences I’ve watched so far haven’t been all that satisfying. It’s a little hard to get excited when you’re watching players celebrate in deafening silence in a cavernous, empty German arena.

La Liga, Spain’s top football/soccer division, is taking a different approach. The league returned to action last night with a local derby between Seville clubs Real Betis and Sevilla FC, and anyone watching at home might have done a double-take to confirm that the stadium wasn’t full. La Liga...

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