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Are robot fans better than no fans at all?

The Taiwan Chinese Professional Baseball League plans to test the theory Saturday for its Opening Day, which was originally scheduled for March 14 before it was postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Taiwan, like the United States, is still not allowing large gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Therefore, games will have to be played in empty stadiums, except for the home of one CPBL team.

The Rakuten Monkeys announced that the stands for their home games will be partially filled by “robot mannequins” dressed as fans. According to CPBL Stats, a website that covers the league, there will be 500 mannequins placed in the stands.

“Since we are not allowed to have any fans in attendance, we might as well have some fun with it,” Monkeys general manager Justin Liu told CPBL Stats. “We went with 500 robot mannequins to comply with the current CDC guideline.”