ESPN’s production teams might need to brush up on the landmarks in cities where they are calling games. A rather notable mistake happened on Wednesday night, during Big XII college basketball action between Utah and Arizona.
The Wildcats posted a convincing 83-66 win in the game, which was streamed on ESPN+. At halftime, with the Wildcats leading 46-32, viewers were treated to some scenic shots outside of the McKale Center — well outside of the McKale Center.
As the broadcast returned for the beginning of the second half, play-by-play man Pete Sousa praised the “beautiful look at Tucson, Arizona.”
The problem? Viewers weren’t seeing Tucson — or anything particularly close to Tucson. Viewers were seeing footage of a location more than 100 miles away in Tempe, the home city of Arizona’s in-state rival, Arizona State.
Kevin Zimmerman, an editor for AZ Sports, pointed out the mistake on X (formerly Twitter), remarking that “they found a new way to confuse Tucson and Tempe.”
Ah can confirm they found a new way to confuse Tucson and Tempe. pic.twitter.com/WlH84Kg1Fx
— Kevin Zimmerman (@KZimmermanAZ) February 27, 2025
There was also backup from what we’d call a trusted source on the matter — the City of Tempe’s official X account.
@espn @Big12Conference Okay guys, who transported Tempe Town Lake and the Mill Ave Bridge all the way to Tucson? We’re not mad, just wanna know. @TheSunDevils,” was posted on the account.
@espn @Big12Conference Okay guys, who transported Tempe Town Lake and the Mill Ave Bridge all the way to Tucson? We’re not mad, just wanna know. @TheSunDevils https://t.co/977hTp6d6g
— City of Tempe, AZ (@Tempegov) February 27, 2025
Similar mistakes have been made on other ESPN broadcasts in recent weeks.
