Kiss cam

The kiss cam tradition originated in California in the early 1980s, as a way to fill in the gaps in play in professional baseball games, taking advantage of the possibilities of the then-new giant video screens. When the kiss cam is in action, the audience may be alerted by a known 'kiss-related' song being played, and/or an announcer warning the crowd. The crowd attending then pay attention to the marked 'kiss cam' video screen. Normally, several consecutive couples are selected, and appear on the screen. As each pair appear onscreen, they are then expected to kiss. Additionally, sporting event staff may appear as couples who reject kisses or proposals in order to entertain or surprise the attending audience. A kiss is traditionally rewarded by applause, clapping, cheers and whistles, whereas a refusal to kiss is booed. It is intended as a light-hearted diversion to the main event during a timeout, television timeout, or similar downtime. In the case of particularly original or sensational shots, the situation may be staged. == Notable incidents ==

The potential for awkward situations, where the camera focuses on relatives for example, has led to several widely reported moments. • During Game 6 of the 2017 NBA playoffs between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, the Kiss Cam mistakenly focused on a man and his mother. The son, upon realizing the situation, was seen mouthing the words "She's my mom" to the camera, while his mother appeared to not initially notice the screen. The incident quickly became viral, with the clip being widely shared and covered by numerous national and international media outlets. The incident was further amplified by the Bucks' own social media account, which posted the clip. • In February 2018, at a Carolina Hurricanes home contest against the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, Elizabeth Braswell and her younger brother, Matt, were selected by the Kiss Cam during a break in the National Hockey League game. The camera operators mistook them as boyfriend and girlfriend because they appeared close in age. Both siblings immediately signaled that they were siblings, rather than kiss as was expected of them. Elizabeth later described the moment as surprising but humorous, stating that the crowd around them laughed. Hurricanes director of in‑game marketing Chris Greenley acknowledged the error, saying that such misidentifications occur a few times each season but remain a source of entertainment and comedy for the audience. 2025 Coldplay concert On July 16, 2025, during a concert leg of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, a couple appeared on the venue’s kiss-cam during the band's Jumbotron Song segment, where frontman Chris Martin improvised lyrics about audience members shown on screen. The pair reacted by attempting to avoid the camera, drawing attention online. The individuals were later identified as Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot, executives at a technology startup called Astronomer. The event inspired a mobile game by Jonathan Mann and coincided with increased search traffic for office and infidelity-themed content on adult websites such as Pornhub. Byron resigned from Astronomer three days later and Cabot resigned a week after that. Cabot filed for divorce from her husband on August 13, 2025. A spokesperson for her husband revealed that "he and Kristin were privately and amicably separated several weeks before the Coldplay concert". ==References==