Coming off an unlikely run to the College Football Playoff last season, Arizona State Sun Devils fans were more excited than ever to kickoff the college football season on Saturday. But unfortunately, that excitement was suppressed by technical issues with the broadcast that persisted throughout the second half of the game, making it largely unwatchable.
Arizona State’s game against Northern Arizona was scheduled as a streaming exclusive on ESPN+ and ESPN’s new app, but was plagued by technical issues as the screen switched from black to “blurred flashed” according to ArizonaSports.com editor Alex Weiner.
watching Arizona State on ESPN+ looks like a art piece made from paint brush pic.twitter.com/kWCcEsoxUQ
— MOCskoden🏜️ (@MOCskoden) August 31, 2025
Fans were so upset that Arizona State Athletic Director Graham Rossini felt it necessary to apologize for the circumstances.
Hey guys – fully aware that the live stream is out. Very sorry for this and rest assured we are in touch with the Big 12 and ESPN on this issue. We have to be better for our fans and our program. I do apologize.
— Graham Rossini (@GrahamRossini) August 31, 2025
“Hey guys – fully aware that the live stream is out. Very sorry for this and rest assured we are in touch with the Big 12 and ESPN on this issue. We have to be better for our fans and our program. I do apologize,” the AD wrote.
It appears that the issues were on-site and not related to the infrastructure of ESPN’s new app, as concurrent events were not experiencing any difficulties. Still, in an era full of streaming exclusives, when fans have to pay additional fees to access games, there’s an expectation that they’ll be able to access what they paid for.
Per Weiner, Rossini is working to have ESPN+ upload a clean feed of the game for fans to watch after the fact.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.