ESPN VP Admits Not Airing National Anthem at Sugar Bowl Following NOLA Terrorist Attack Was an ‘Enormous Mistake’
It’s commonly understood that following moments of great national tragedy or crisis, that patriotic anthems and symbols will be given primacy during sports broadcasts.
At least, it’s understood everywhere except ESPN.
ESPN Vice President Burke Magnus admitted his network made an “enormous mistake” in not showing the national anthem at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2, one day after a terror attack killed 14 people on Bourbon Street.
“There’s a group of people in Bristol [Connecticut] who just made an enormous mistake. It was a human error. It happens. I don’t want to minimize it by any stretch,” Magnus said. “That was just a horrible error that was made by a group of really well-intentioned people who feel terrible about it.”
Magnus also cited the game’s one-day delay as a scheduling factor that upset the normal flow of broadcast preparations.
“Nothing was normal about that next day, including our programming lineup,” Magnus said. “I could give you a whole host of reasons why it wasn’t the normal circumstance.”
The ESPN executive also hastened to add that the decision not to air the anthem was not deliberate.
“The notion that it was somehow intentional or we were trying to avoid acknowledging what was a horrific situation in New Orleans was really misplaced. It was just a mistake that we feel terrible about and, by the way, we should be held to account for,” Magnus said.
“Our timing got fouled up. We happened to be in commercial break when the anthem happened, it was just not good by any measuring stick and not up to our standards.”
The mistake was compounded by the airing of a highly divisive message from Tom Wilson, the chief executive officer of Sugar Bowl sponsor Allstate, who said Americans had an “addiction to divisiveness and negativity.”
ESPN did air the national anthem at the Orange Bowl between Notre Dame and Penn State on January 9.
Jesus Christ is King
