Steelers Sampling Fake Crowd Noise at Live Practice Saturday

Not only will the Pittsburgh Steelers be wearing their game jerseys for tonight’s live practice at Heinz Field, but they will also be experimenting with simulated crowd noise.

Steelers Director of Communications Burt Lauten announced on Twitter that the team will be experimenting tonight with “curated ambient in-stadium audio” to “mitigate the absence of ambience created when fans are in attendance.” Lauten also implied that the NFL is still undecided on whether they will employ simulated crowd noise or not this season, hence the Steelers and other teams testing it out ahead of time.

The NFL is looking to add curated ambient in-stadium audio at all games where there are no fans. The intention is to provide a low-level background audio in each venue to mitigate the absence of ambiance created when fans are in attendance. This will occur tonight @heinzfield. https://t.co/2d7jouhQl0

— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) August 22, 2020

The Steelers have not yet decided if they will play with or without fans this season. Numerous teams have already ruled out fan attendance for at least their home openers, while the Bears, Giants, Jets and Washington have ruled out fans for the entire 2020 season.

In addition to being shown on the Steelers’ digital and social platforms, tonight’s live practice will be broadcast on Pittsburgh’s CW, as well as WDVE, the team’s radio flagship.