Jovis, Makara, 13, 2077, m249

There was an old Earth saying that necessity is the mother of invention, but up here, Mars is the real mother of invention. Everything that we’ve built has come out of a necessity to live, eat, work, and play in the greatest scientific feat that humanity has ever known.

I was thinking about this as I watched my Titans unceremoniously fall to the Dynamo at Korolev Stadium. Not wanting to focus too much on the game I looked around at the rest of my colleagues in the Press STV, or, Spectator Tour Vehicle. You see, it would have been both too costly and a drain on resources to cover the stadiums and create an artificial atmosphere, so the MAFL stadium are all open air. But humans can’t breathe on Mars so the players have the EV suits.

This all works well for the players because there aren’t that many of them, but when you want to fill your stadium with hordes of fans you can’t really give out hundreds of EV suits. So the Spectator Tour Vehicle was invented. In general the STV is large vehicle with rotating seats, life-support systems, and elongated windows that allow the passengers to enjoy viewing a match from the comfort within.

The press STV isn’t much different than a standard STV designed for regular spectators. It's a much smaller vehicle, of course, but with space for all of us to work and file stories, but the same basic design is there. Every STV comes equipped with a state of the art onboard game diagnostic system. This populates the heads-up display (HUD) on the windows, but also allows for an individualized data feed in each seat.

The HUD provides important game information such as current score, time remaining, and players on the pitch, but it is the personalized data feed that I love. Let’s say you want to know the home town of your favourite player, or how many penalties they’ve received this season, or what’s their favourite song? It is all there at your fingertips. I can have a personalized announcer feed, or I can even add my own soundtrack. And I love watching a couple of minutes of a game to classic music. You’d be surprised how well a match syncs up with the 1812 Overture!

Of course all of this pales in comparison to STV Megabox. Patterned after the box seats of yore, these vehicles fit only a handful of spectators, but what a ride they get. Plush seats, gourmet food, referee cam feed, and all the opulent extras that make watching the game merely a secondary endeavour. I’ve never gotten a chance to life live in one of these fancy moving parties, but I heard from a guy who heard from a guy that they are worth every penny.

And one day I’ll find a way to catch a match in these golden boxes, but for now I’m happy to sit with everyone else, shoulder to shoulder, enjoying the common bond as we cheer (or boo) the teams on the pitch. Sure, we could just be at home enjoying the virtual feeds or data sets from the camera-bots, but nothing beats being right there and seeing the players in front of you. Don’t let this season pass by without seeing at least once match dear reader. You won’t regret it.