MLB Will Allow Fans to Use App to Influence Crowd Noise from Home During Games

Fans will have the opportunity to boo the Houston Astros during the 2020 Major League Baseball season after all. 

As Darren Rovell of Action Network shared, the league will incorporate how many fans are using its app and cheering or booing a specific team into the piped in crowd noise it will use in empty stadiums amid the COVID-19 pandemic:

Essentially, those who log into the app can choose which team they are rooting for and either cheer or boo accordingly. The app will keep tabs on the percentage of fans who are cheering for each team and how they are reacting and then relay it to staff inside the stadiums to impact the fake crowd noise.

"Ballpark staff uses the 'real-time' fan sentiment to control/vary noise variation/levels at the ballpark," is how the league described how teams will use the feature.

It won't exactly be the raucous environments of Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, but it is at least a way for fans to express their loyalties while they are watching from home instead of the bleachers.

It will also give those who are curious a chance to see what percentage of fans tuning into an Astros game are looking to boo the defending American League champions following the investigation into their sign-stealing practices.