ESPN's broadcast of Red Sox-Yankees Game 1 dealt with audio crackling and video issues throughout Tuesday night. Photo Credit: ESPN
By Sam Neumann on

ESPN’s broadcast of the Red Sox-Yankees game dealt with audio issues since the first inning on Tuesday night.

The crackling started barely noticeable in the opening frame, but became more apparent as the game went on. It was deafening when the Yankees recorded the final out of the first inning. When Anthony Volpe homered in the second, viewers noticed the audio problems spiked again whenever the crowd noise increased.

Viewers also reported issues with video skipping and framing throughout the broadcast.

But while the picture quality issues were eventually resolved, the audio issues never truly subsided.

Red Sox-Yankees at Yankee Stadium in October draws a bigger audience than a regular season game. When the audio is crackling loud enough that viewers are asking if their TV is broken, the technical problems become the story instead of the baseball.

ESPN has exclusive rights to the entire Wild Card Series, meaning there’s no alternative broadcast when the audio fails. Viewers watching on cable, streaming services, or the ESPN app all got the same crackling feed.

And unfortunately for the Worldwide Leader, this has happened for the second postseason in a row.

Last October, during Game 2 of Tigers-Astros in the Wild Card round, ESPN’s broadcast booth sounded like they were underwater for long stretches in the eighth inning, and the audio wasn’t synced with the video. The issues persisted for multiple innings before the network eventually fixed them. Michael Kay apologized on air for the technical difficulties. The Astros’ social media team posted highlights without sound because ESPN’s feed was unusable.


ESPN will get another chance Wednesday when Game 2 airs at 6 p.m. ET. This is the network’s final year with Wild Card rights, as NBC is set to take over the Wild Card Series starting in 2026.

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.

View all posts by Sam Neumann