Burke Magnus, ESPN's president of content, said the network's decision not to broadcast the pregame moment of silence and national anthem at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 2 was a “big mistake.”
The network came under fire for not airing the two moments on its Sugar Bowl broadcast the day after the Bourbon Street terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured more than 20 others.
Talking about the episode, “Sports Media Podcast” released on ThursdayMagnus called the situation “human error,” adding, “A group of people in Bristol, Connecticut just made a grave mistake.”
“I don't want to downplay it in any way, but…nothing about that day was normal, including the program lineup and the staff leading to the game, which would normally be a 'College Game Day.' ” Magnus said. “Instead, it was a 'Sports Center' taking place outside of Bristol rather than on-site. I could list many reasons why it wasn't a normal situation, but at the end of the day, this was a really well-intentioned It was a terrible mistake that a group of people made, and I feel terrible about it.”
Users on social media quickly criticized ESPN after noticing that the pregame moments were not shown on the broadcast.
ESPN began broadcasting the Sugar Bowl with a montage of fans bowing their heads with a giant American flag in the middle of the field, and the SEC Network showed the moment of silence and national anthem in its entirety.
But that still led some, including former ESPN host Sage Steele, to suggest that the network may have made a deliberate decision not to broadcast a moment of silence or the national anthem.
Mr Magnus pushed back against the idea, calling it “misguided”.
“This is just a mistake and we are very sorry. By the way, we should be held accountable,” he said. “We always want to be as good as we can be. Even though it wasn't a normal situation, there was traffic, the timing was off, the national anthem happened to be during a commercial break. Yet it wasn't good by any measuring stick and wasn't up to our standards.”
ESPN's head of content pointed out that they have broadcast the national anthem before every College Football Playoff game since the Sugar Bowl.
The network did something similar for NFL playoff games.
The CFP concludes Monday with Ohio State taking on Notre Dame for the national championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
