ESPN is facing criticism after its main broadcast of Thursday’s Sugar Bowl in New Orleans didn’t show the moment of silence or national anthem before the game.
The game, a College Football Playoff matchup between Notre Dame and Georgia, was postponed until Thursday after Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a truck into a crowd on New Year’s Day, killing 14 and injuring several others.
The ESPN broadcast opened with a televised message from President Biden addressing the attack, as well as comments from play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough.
Some viewers did see the moment of silence and national anthem depending on what broadcast they watched. SEC Network, which is owned by ESPN, showed both. The main ESPN broadcast did not.
A commercial break started before the moment of silence and ended in the middle of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Commenters on social media blasted the network’s choice not to air the anthem and “USA” chants from the Superdome crowd, and also criticized ESPN’s parent company, Disney.
“ESPN! You sold out when you didn’t show the National Anthem!!!!!!!!” X user @goUnitas19 wrote.
X poster @BrentWags12 wrote: “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 user, @sensibleness123, asked on X: “Why didn’t ESPN televise the National Anthem and moment of silence for the dead and injured from the recent horrific terror attack? ESPN and Disney’s CEO should be ashamed!”
The anthem and moment of silence were talked about later on ESPN as part of Thursday night’s “SportsCenter.”
Notre Dame beat Georgia 23-10, advancing to the semifinals. The Irish will play Penn State on Thursday in Miami.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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