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user-inactivated · 1664 days ago · link · · parent · post: "Take away a great performer’s live audience, and you take away their source of narrative power. "
Got a taste of this last year when the supporters of the major Swedish soccer teams staged a silent protest during the first ten minutes of every game against the police's enforcement of a ban on large flags and pyrotechnics in the audience (the protest ends around 12:30, notice that the referee is delaying the free kick at the end of the video because of the flares).The power of the crowd watching the crowd is also true for sports leagues. Maybe more true for sports than for any social function other than war. Without a live crowd for the TV crowd to take its cues from, the TV crowd will quickly lose engagement and interest. Regardless of the level of competition, a disembodied audience is a bored audience.