Greg McElroy and Sean McDonough on the "Fortnite OG Kickoff" broadcast of the Indiana-Notre Dame CFP game. Greg McElroy and Sean McDonough on the “Fortnite OG Kickoff” broadcast of the Indiana-Notre Dame CFP game. (Screengrab via Tom Dierberger/Sports Illustrated.)
By Andrew Bucholtz on

Broadcast sponsorships have long been a source of awkwardness, but ESPN/ABC’s latest for this year’s College Football Playoff might take the cake.

During Friday’s Notre Dame-Indiana game, the network heavily promoted its “Fortnite OG Kickoff” sponsorship, with announcer Sean McDonough repeatedly mentioning it on air.

That prompted much criticism, especially for the repetition. Some of that came from an unusual source: Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis.

Hilariously, Levis followed that up by saying that his opposition wasn’t to the sponsorship. He’s played a lot of Fortnite over the years, but he didn’t like the repetition.

But this led to a lot of people roasting Levis, including his mayo-in-coffee take and sponsorships, his draft night fall, his play, how he got benched for Mason Rudolph this past week (it’s a Christmas miracle!), and how he’s often been talked about on broadcasts.

Of course, Levis was far from the only one to criticize the repeated “Fortnite OG Kickoff” mentions (which continued Saturday). A lot of people on social media have had plenty to say about those. But what’s notable is that Levis’ decision to weigh in led to a flurry of people roasting his play, his mayo takes and more.

And even his follow-up tweet on loving Fortnite himself didn’t help much.

[The Spun, screengrab via Sports Illustrated]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz