A baseball team in South Korea has come up with a new way for fans who can't make it to a game to still be able to enjoy it: robots.
Fans of the Hanwha Eagles can now show their support from home by having a robot stand in for them, according to BBC News. They can use the Internet to control robots in the stands that hold displays showing their faces. The robots have the ability to cheer, chant, and even perform the Mexican wave.
Matt Cutler, editor of SportsBusiness International, said the bots can be used to the benefit of professional clubs, such as football teams.
"If you look at all the big clubs, you can't just get a season ticket - you have to sit on a waiting list," Cutler said.
"There is also potential monetization. You can charge, even if it's a small amount, to give fans a different kind of viewpoint."
The Eagles have been struggling for the past five years, having lost over 400 games. The nickname Buddhist Saints has been given to the team's fans out of sympathy, while less sympathetic rival fans call them the Hanwha Chickens, BBC News reported.
The Hanwha Eagles recently released a video showing three rows of the stadium filled with the bots, each of which has an LED screen on its head that shows the face of the person who is using it, CNET reported.
The new idea seems to be catching on to fans, as the Eagles have so far received about 90,000 message submissions.
