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Fan Club: Ricoh Helps Brings Virtual Spectators to UT Game Day

In the face of prohibitions on live fan attendance at sporting events, both college and pro sports teams are filling empty stadiums with printed spectators. Read how Ricoh helped two sports programs take advantage of wide-format printing to connect with fans while also helping raise money for health initiatives.

Tuesday, November 03, 2020

It is often said that “The COVID crisis has accelerated trends that had already been set in motion before the pandemic.” And while this is true in many cases, there are some new virus-induced trends that no one could have foreseen a year ago. Case in point: spectators not being allowed to attend sporting events and being replaced by printed cutouts. Back in December, you’d’ve really needed some special powers to see that one coming. One tweet from September made it into our Friday Around the Web feature and seems to sum things up succinctly:

I’d like to nominate cardboard humans watching baseball in a dystopian hell scape for photo of the year, thanks. pic.twitter.com/DeQmFjuM45

College and professional sports programs alike have been turning to faux fans to fill the stands, and it has proven to be a good opportunity for wide-format printing equipment manufacturers and suppliers to help inplants and other print providers meet the demand for cutout spectators.


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About Richard Romano

Richard Romano is Managing Editor of WhatTheyThink.  He curates the Wide Format section on WhatTheyThink.com. He has been writing about the graphic communications industry for more than 25 years. He is the author or coauthor of more than half a dozen books on printing technology and business. His most recent book is “Beyond Paper: An Interactive Guide to Wide-Format and Specialty Printing.

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