Sports TV Awards 2021 Finalist: vCrowd Virtual Crowd Sound Solution by Salsa Sound

Salsa Sound partnered with Manchester City F.C. to create an innovative app-based solution for bringing real emotion to virtual crowds, all with a single gesture

Credit: Salsa Sound (2021)

In response to COVID-19 and the resulting absence of fans at live sports events globally, Salsa Sound pivoted from AI-driven automated audio mixing and produced an innovative app-based solution for the control of virtual crowds for games behind-closed-doors, beating out the competition to be shortlisted for ‘Outstanding Production Audio Innovation’ at the SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021.

Having already partnered with Manchester City F.C. for highlights on their digital platforms, they once again worked together to create vCROWD, a touchscreen app running on PCs that allows the for the control of the overall emotion/excitement of the crowd and applause with a single gesture and with customisable hot-key buttons for incidental sounds such as cheers, disappointment, outrage, chants, and configurable faders for boos

vCROWD soon became a market leader for broadcasters looking to purchase an all-in-one virtual crowd solution, being used by CBS for the NWSL Challenge Cup competition which was the first televised sport to return in the US. Following the success of the NWSL (which saw record viewing figures of over 1M/match), we were immediately approached by MLS broadcast partner VISTA WorldLink to provide a virtual crowd for MLS and USL matches.

The winners of the SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021, sponsored by Canon, will be announced on Thursday 28 October at Chelsea F.C. during the Sport Production & Technology Summit 2021. Registration for both events is now open to members and sponsors here.