SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 19: Fans cheer in the stands prior t the NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Kyle Shanahan mentioned some rumored new rules in place in 2020.
The NFL is dealing with a scenario in which some stadiums may have fans in attendance and others may not. However, even those with fans will be nowhere near full capacity so the overall noise will not be the same as a normal game.
This means teams will be pumping in fake crowd noise. The NFL will want to ensure no one team goes overboard and San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan shared an interesting note he had heard about this situation.
Kyle Shanahan shares some bizarre news
There is obviously a lot of context Shanahan is leaving out. But this still sounds like a bizarre situation. Is this crowd noise tape just going to be a consistent sound? Will random cheers show up during commercial breaks? While that may not happen, it is still funny to think about if the plan is to stick a cassette tape in and act like a DJ.
The NFL’s goal will likely be to make sure a team isn’t cranking up artificial noise during a key possession for the opposing team. That is where the logic of not being able to manipulate the sounds makes sense. However, there is context behind every cheer as this is not a soccer match. There are no songs being sung for hours and it will be fascinating to see how the NFL pulls this off.
The league does have the benefit of seeing how the NBA, MLB, and NHL have handled this problem so far. But the NFL has the most gargantuan stadiums of all and they will need extra noise to avoid an eerie feeling. Also, they need noise in general so everything said on the field isn’t heard from both sidelines.
This season is going to have a different feel and it will be up to coaches like Shanahan to keep his team focused, even if random noises emerge from the speakers at bizarre times.