ESPN drew widespread criticism earlier this month for not carrying the national anthem ahead of the Sugar Bowl, which was postponed a day following a deadly terrorist attack on the game’s host city of New Orleans.
The network also ignored the pre-game moment of silence for the terror victims and the subsequent chants of “U-S-A.”
ESPN publicly acknowledged the incident for the first time on Wednesday, when vice president Burke Magnus was asked about the decision on Sports Business Journal’s “Sports Media Podcast.”
Magnus called not showing the anthem a “horrible error” and a “terrible mistake.” He said the decision falls on the “people back in Bristol,” and ESPN should be “held accountable for” that.
You can hear Magnus discuss the error below:
ESPN VP Burke Magnus says not airing the moment of silence & national anthem before the Sugar Bowl after the NOLA terror attack was a “terrible mistake” & “horrible error” & says “we should be held to account for it.” pic.twitter.com/ItGjGQbVV8
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 16, 2025
Previously, ESPN blamed the decision on a “timing issue.”
Magnus says ESPN showed the national anthem in its entirety ahead of the college football semi-finals last week and will do so again during the National Championship Game on Monday.
“We are not avoiding the anthem,” he said. “Quite the opposite.”
His comments confirm what sources inside ESPN told OutKick last week. The fact that “the people back at Bristol” believed that skipping the national anthem after a terror attack was even an option underscores the culture that ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro has established.
Highlighting patriotism and unity is not a priority under Pitaro. Hence, producers didn’t feel the need to check with Magnus, the company’s second-in-charge, if going to a commercial break during the moment of silence was appropriate.
ESPN Has Ever-Changing Priorities
The control room didn’t think twice.
Of course, they would have most certainly worked in the pre-game demonstrations had they expected the players to kneel. In 2020, ESPN found the time to show the protests ahead of the NBA playoffs, when the players knelt during the anthem behind the “Black Lives Matter” painting on the court, all in the name of George Floyd.
Priorities.
Speaking of Floyd, it was his death that sources inside ESPN say turned Pitaro from a no-BS, stick-to-sports general to a little mouse who cowers in fear of the woke mob.
For more on Pitaro’s transition and the climate inside ESPN, read our report.
We have contacted Pitaro, Magnus, and ESPN PR multiple times. They have not responded.
Still, credit to Magnus for admitting to ESPN’s “terrible mistake.” Next, he should focus on the company fixing its other “horrible errors” – such as treating employees differently based on the color of their skin and political affiliation.
