How many times in the first quarter of “Monday Night Football” were you fooled by the yellow down-and-distance graphic in the bottom right of ESPN’s screen?
Someone at ESPN didn’t think this through. Since Fox first started putting the score on the screen all the time in 1994 (yes kids, old folks lived in a world in which you had to remember the score because it wasn’t pinned on the bottom of our screens), networks have gotten in the habit of alerting us when there’s a penalty flag on the play. It usually would pop up as a bright yellow graphic where the score is listed.
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In the first haalf, ESPN had that yellow tag on all the time, even when there was not a flag on the play.
The NFL graphics revamp by ESPN’s Creative Services team includes a new #MNF dashboard this season. A notable addition is the neon yellow “venom” color. Great work by @coolhand20 and company. pic.twitter.com/AwjVWfrG2O
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) September 9, 2019
Give ESPN credit, because it didn’t need a day of reflection and meetings to get it right. It was changed after halftime, back to a normal black background and white lettering.
Our ESPN production team is aware of the feedback on the #MNF down and distance graphic. We have called an audible and adjusted for the 2nd half of #HOUvsNO and for the #DENvsOAK game to follow. New look pictured here. pic.twitter.com/SWLKKuW87w
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) September 10, 2019
Social media was not happy with yellow graphic
All you had to do in the first half was watch Saints receiver Michael Thomas make a catch, see the yellow on the bottom right, think it was coming back ... no, no, just first-and-10 on ESPN’s screen. Ugh.
Social media was not impressed.
ESPN needs to change the yellow graphic on the bottom right of the screen. I keep thinking it’s a flag. Whose idea was this?
— Landry Locker (@LandryLocker) September 9, 2019
WHY IS IT NEON YELLOW!? #ESPN #MondayNightFootball
— Joe vouris (@JVouris) September 9, 2019
Imma need @ESPNNFL /@espn to change the yellow color of that banner next week, I keep thinking there’s flags being thrown, and we all know that’s a sensitive subject down here #WhoDat #HOUvsNO #MondayNightFootball
— katie (@katie32543202) September 9, 2019
Why doesn’t ESPN stick to the red graphics? The yellow is god awful and makes me think there’s a flag on every play.
— Jesse Finver (@JfinverSports12) September 9, 2019
At least it lasted only one half. ESPN quickly got it right.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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