ESPN is under fire for its decision not to show the national anthem ahead of the Sugar Bowl on Thursday.
The Sugar Bowl was postponed by a day due to a terrorist attack that occurred just a mile from the stadium, resulting in 14 deaths and leaving dozens more injured.
Before the game, the Sugar Bowl observed a moment of silence for the victims in addition to the playing of the national anthem.
However, ESPN opted not to include this segment in its coverage.
A source familiar with the situation told The New York Post that there were “several factors” involved in the decision not to air the national anthem before the game.
“‘SportsCenter,’ which had served as the pregame show due to the unusual circumstances, had wrapped on an interview with Tim Tebow and went to a commercial break before the moment of silence and returned in the middle of the anthem, ‘making it awkward to cut it’ at that moment, the source explained,” the Post reported.
“ESPN did open its broadcast of the Sugar Bowl with a prerecorded message from President Joe Biden, and play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough spoke about the tragedy in his open while a montage of fans, police and the city of New Orleans played on the screen.”
Regardless of the reasoning, the decision sparked outrage on social media.
“Time to let the advertisers know that this is not acceptable,” one fan wrote on X.
“It’s a shame they didn’t share the national anthem. It was beautiful. I guess but no one got to see it because the Disney ESPN conglomerate decided not to show it,” another fan wrote.
“Did I miss the national anthem at the Sugar Bowl, or did woke espn not show it?” someone else asked.
“I understand sports is important, but ESPN is not a good network. They seem to have disdain for patriotic Americans,” another person said.
“This was a travesty that ESPN skipped one of the most moving and nationally significant moments of the Sugar Bowl. The anthem and moment of silence at the Dome was beautiful,” someone else added.
“ESPN has sadly lost its way,” another person added.
Although ESPN did not broadcast the national anthem during the game, it was aired on “SEC Nation,” a program on the ESPN-owned SEC Network, which was broadcast live from the Superdome.
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