ESPN forced to release statement over national anthem storm after chief admits to ‘enormous mistake’ at CFP playoff

ESPN showed the Sugar Bowl hours after an attack on New Orleans

ESPN has released a statement after criticism over the national anthem at a college football game.

The network didn’t screen the anthem live before the Sugar Bowl earlier this month.

A wide shot of a football stadium during a pre-game ceremony, showing a large American flag on the field and spectators in the stands.
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The Sugar Bowl was played at the Superdome in New Orleans on January 2Credit: Getty

Law enforcement officers on an armored vehicle patrol.
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It was played with tight security after an attack in the city on New Year’s DayCredit: Getty
The game took place in New Orleans, Louisiana just hours after a devastating incident.

Fourteen people were killed and another 35 injured when a driver deliberately drove a truck into crowds.

The shocking incident targeted people celebrating New Year in the famed Bourbon Street.

And it forced officials to postpone the Sugar Bowl by a day as security worked to ensure everyone’s safety.

The game eventually kicked off on January 2 and it was an emotional scene in the Superdome.

But ESPN skipped the national anthem and the moment of silence on the broadcast.

Fans were furious at the network’s stance.

But ESPN boss Burke Magnus admitted it was “an enormous mistake.”

“There are a group of people in Bristol who just made an enormous mistake,” he told The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.

“It was a human error, it happens.

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“I don’t want to minimize it by any stretch but nothing was normal about that next day – including our programming lineup.

“I could give you a whole host of reasons why it was not the normal circumstance but at the end of the day that was just a horrible error that was made by a group of really well-intentioned people.

“It was a mistake that we feel terrible about and – by the way – we should be held to account for.

‘We want to be as good as we can possibly be at all times and even though it was not a normal situation, our traffic got fouled up, 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.”

ESPN ratings for the semifinals were down 17 per cent on last year.

The two games were played on consecutive nights on Thursday 6 January and Friday 7 January.

And they drew an average of 19.2 million viewers.

That is down from the 23.2 million average for the semifinals in 2023.

Ohio State’s 28-14 win over the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl on Friday was seen by 20.6 million viewers.

And Thursday’s Orange Bowl win for Notre Dame over Penn State was watched by 17.8 million people.