The Dallas Mavericks season begins on July 31, and the basketball team is embracing what has become a hot trend among major league sports teams: cardboard cutouts of fans placed in the stands.

In collaboration with Michelob Ultra, the Mavericks are hosting a sweepstakes where fans can enter for the chance to have their own life-sized cardboard cutout fill a seat inside American Airlines Center.

There will be enough slots for 650 cutouts which will be displayed at the first round of playoffs and every Mavs game thereafter.

Their instructions are as follows:

• Don your favorite game day gear
• Snap a photo against a blank white wall
• Keep your arms by your side
• Smile

With the coronavirus still lingering, most major league sports teams are not allowing fans to attend games in 2020. Adding cardboard cutouts has been one of the solutions for fans to stay connected and for the games to look like they have an audience.

Separately, Fox Sports has been piping in fake fan audio on its televised broadcasts, as well as filling the stands with digitally rendered fans.

The cardboard cutouts idea was originally conceived by soccer leagues in Europe back in May. The San Francisco Giants were the first American team to offer them, but the cutouts have been since embraced by most baseball teams including the Texas Rangers, whose program proved to be a big success.

Most baseball teams have charged a fee, but the Mavericks' cardboard cutouts are free. However, not everyone gets one.

Fans can follow steps to enter for a chance to have their photo turned into a cardboard cutout now through 8/4 at cheersultrafans.com.