In a release dedicated to its Megacast plans for the College Football Playoff’s first-round games, ESPN may have also unveiled a new scorebug.
This marks the third different scorebug the network will have this calendar year, including its one for the 2024-25 season. And as Morgan Wick pointed out, it’s notably not the same as the SEC on ABC Scorebug, but there are plenty of similarities.
In Awful Announcing’s 2024 college football scorebug rankings, the SEC on ABC scorebug was ranked second (out of seven). While the idea of a separate SEC on ABC presentation was initially criticized, viewers eventually warmed up to it. Perhaps that’ll be the case here, too.
The new scorebug can be seen above and below, which Sports TV News & Updates pointed out on X.
It appears that ESPN will be debuting a new scorebug for its College Football Playoff coverage this year. (h/t @LuckyIsles) https://t.co/33zGTCO9Fz pic.twitter.com/605hXhVKGb
— Sports TV News & Updates (@TVSportsUpdates) December 17, 2024
And here is a zoomed in version of what it could look like.
Though the release doesn’t directly mention the scorebug change, it’s hard to miss once pointed out.
ESPN has periodically changed the scorebug, and this trend continues the effort to keep the network’s scorebugs at the bottom of the screen. Most, if not all, networks now have their scorebugs operating in the lower third of the screen.
This particular scorebug occupies the entire lower third of the screen and features ESPN’s branding and the CFP logo.
The score and game details are displayed in bold font, with team names and scores at the top and additional info, like time remaining and round, at the bottom. The clean, modern design uses a gold and white color scheme, which is in line with ESPN’s signature style.
This feels like a step up after the SEC on ABC scorebug debuted to mixed reviews. However, it raises the question of why we continue to see different graphic packages for the same sport.
That said, the expanded CFP certainly deserves its own unique presentation — and that’s what it’ll get.
[ESPN PR]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.