As sports are played without fans in the stands amid the coronavirus pandemic, one Japanese baseball club got creative in its efforts to inject some life into the atmosphere. Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Japanese baseball team debuts dancing robots in stands

Originally posted on Sportress of Blogitude
By Jason Rowan | Last updated 7/8/20

Restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic have prevented teams in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) from welcoming spectators into ballparks so far this season.

To help overcome the sterile atmosphere in stadiums devoid of fans, one NPB team has come up with a novel way to inject some artificial atmosphere into the ballpark.

Dancing robots.

Footage has surfaced on social media showcasing how during a recent game against the Rakuten Eagles, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks employed 20 dancing robots to liven things up.

The two kinds of robots, SoftBank’s humanoid robot ‘Pepper’ and others on four legs, engaged in a choreographed dance to the team’s fight song.

Suffice to say, it was a sight to behold.

With their stadium devoid of fans, Japanese baseball team Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have come up with an imaginative replacement – dancing robots https://t.co/zb1cFobT8Z pic.twitter.com/H8j9QAfcX9
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 8, 2020

Let’s hope the Hawks’ interesting efforts ultimately result in a better outcome than what happened with a disastrously wrongheaded effort by a soccer team in Korea to add some life into the stadium. Given how poorly that situation played out, that should go without saying, though.

For what it’s worth, with their hat-wearing, flag-waving robot fans “cheering” them on, the Hawks pulled out a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night.

This article first appeared on Sportress of Blogitude and was syndicated with permission.

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