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All eyes were on ESPN on Thursday as the Sugar Bowl took place a little more than 24 hours after an ISIS-inspired terrorist created mayhem on Bourbon Street in New Orleans that left 14 people dead and injured dozens more.
But noticeably absent from the pregame broadcast on the main network was the national anthem and the moment of silence held in honor of the tragedy that occurred about 1 mile away from the Caesars Superdome where Notre Dame and Georgia squared off.
The exclusion of both moments from the ESPN telecast angered some football fans and led to criticism of the network on social media.
However, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Post that several factors played into why the national anthem and moment of silence didn’t make it on air, in particular, the awkwardness of the transition out of a commercial break.
“SportsCenter,” which had served as the pregame show due to the unusual circumstances, had wrapped on an interview with Tim Tebow and went to a commercial break before the moment of silence and returned in the middle of the anthem, “making it awkward to cut it” at that moment, the source explained.
ESPN did open its broadcast of the Sugar Bowl with a pre-recorded message from President Joe Biden, and play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough spoke about the tragedy in his open while a montage of fans, police and the city of New Orleans played on the screen.
“SEC Nation,” which airs on the ESPN-owned SEC Network, was broadcast live from the Superdome and aired the moment of silence and national anthem in their entirety.
Still, not airing the tributes on ESPN following the tragedy stirred a lot of emotions for fans online.
“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,” one fan wrote on X.
“Did I miss the national anthem at the Sugar Bowl, or did woke @espn not show it?” another user wrote.
ESPN declined to comment on the criticism when reached by The Post.
The New Year’s Day attack occurred when 42-year-old U.S. military veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar flew past a police barricade around 3:15 a.m. and began running down crowds of revelers on Bourbon Street.
Jabbar was killed by police after he struck a crane in the street and got into a gunfight with responding officers.
The attack led to officials postponing the game between Georgia and Notre Dame until Thursday from its originally scheduled kickoff on Wednesday afternoon.
Notre Dame won, 23-10, over Georgia to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinal.
