Tim Benz: ESPN changes yellow ‘Monday Night Football’ graphic after angry complaints
Complaining your way into what you want seems to be a fashionable trend these days.
First Antonio Brown managed to get his way out of Pittsburgh. Then Oakland. Now confused “Monday Night Football” viewers are getting their way as well.
The MNF graphics crew received a lot of complaints during the New Orleans Saints - Houston Texans game about a down-and-distance icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen.
Viewers said that it looked too much like a penalty flag, and they were getting distracted.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice it at all. But apparently it was a huge deal to lots of viewers and ESPN decided to adjust.
In honor of the Saints playing on the first edition Monday Night Football this season, ESPN has made the down and distance graphic look like a penalty flag graphic. Kudos to the @NFL for trying to make it right. #MNF #MondayNightFootball #HOUvsNO pic.twitter.com/lkI9mQ2rhJ
— Brad Steele (@BradSteele01) September 9, 2019
Yes. Exactly. Based on the NFC Championship game, I thought Saints fans only complained when they didn’t see a flag on their screen.
Apparently, though, the complaints were so vast that the graphics gurus switched the bug to black-and-white. Not only in time for the second game between Oakland and Denver, but in time for the second half of the Saints-Texans game.
Breaking: ESPN is switching away from the new Down-And-Distance graphic it debuted in the first half of Monday Night Football. ESPN heard the fans’ feedback and acted, quick.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 10, 2019
As a product maker, I love this.
ESPN debuted a new yellow graphic tonight.
Viewers complained because it looks like a penalty flag.
ESPN changed the graphic to black mid-way through the game. https://t.co/4sxVqaNp1k
— Chris Albon (@chrisalbon) September 10, 2019
Thank God. I don’t know how else I could’ve continued watching football.
Geez. If angry tweeting impacted “Monday Night Football” decision making so directly, how did Jason Witten make it through a whole year before going back to the Dallas Cowboys?
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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