As the coronavirus pandemic continues to prevent large crowds from attending sporting events worldwide, the Denver Broncos decided to fill its NFL stadium with characters from South Park.

The NFL team are the latest sports franchise to come up with a creative way of filling up their seats, with social distancing measures stopping many real folks from attending.

While just under 6,000 real fans were allowed into the NFL stadium where the Broncos played against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the other seats were occupied by Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, Stan and other characters from South Park.

The show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone grew up in the state, and are both huge fans of the Broncos.

The team-up comes ahead of the show’s first-ever hour-long special, set to air later this week and focus on the global pandemic.

The official South Park Twitter page shared a clip of the characters in the stadium with the show’s theme music dubbed over the top.

The Denver Broncos have undoubtedly done a better job than a few other leagues around the world when it comes to filling up stadiums.

In May, a football team in South Korea was forced to apologise to fans after filling its stadium with sex dolls because it mistook them for mannequins.

Closer to home, the NRL found itself in hot water in June when it allowed fans to pay to have a cardboard cutout of their likeness in stadiums during games.

Predictably, some took advantage of the scheme, and a poor vetting process saw images of Hitler and serial killer Harold Shipman make it into the ground at one game.

So well done, Denver Broncos!

The team have been synonymous with pop culture references for years, harking back to a 1996 classic episode of The Simpsons where Hank Scorpio gifts the team to Homer.

“Awwwww… the Denver Broncos!” Homer responds.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine