The Houston Texans locked up a playoff spot on Saturday with a dramatic win over the Indianapolis Colts. Houston won the game on the road, sending most of the crowd in Indianapolis home upset.
To be specific, the Texans won the game at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, which has been the home of the Colts since 2008. Only, someone in ESPN’s graphics department must not have gotten that memo.
Shortly after the game, an exterior shot of the stadium was down. SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt was on the money, saying, “That is a live look outside of Lucas Oil Stadium, where the passionate fans of the Colts are going home unhappy.”
ESPN’s graphic, though, identified the stadium as the RCA Dome. That was indeed the former home of the Colts. The RCA Dome was the home venue of the Colts from the 1984 season — when they moved from Baltimore — through the 2007 season. But it was demolished in 2008.
Making matters even funnier is that the exterior shot of Lucas Oil Stadium included the stadium’s name in big, bright red letters.
The Texans celebrate their big win at the RCA Dome — a stadium that was demolished in 2008.
(H/T @caseyouneedit73) pic.twitter.com/VeOYhYZmVP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 7, 2024
What’s funny about this is that it’s exactly the opposite of how one would expect this mistake to be made. It would be easy to understand how a host would make this error, especially on a live show. The graphics department, though, should have plenty of time to fact-check and proofread.
It’s safe to say that Saturday was not a banner day for ESPN’s graphics team. During Saturday’s earlier game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was identified as Jim Harbaugh.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
