Iowa basketball phenom Caitlin Clark hit another incredible game-winning shot to beat Michigan State on Tuesday night, but viewers watching on Peacock were unsure if the shot went up in time after the streamer’s scorebug clock expired before the in-arena game clock.
The result was a mix of awe and confusion as Clark’s impressive shot ran up against a technical malfunction that left Big Ten hoops fans questioning if it would count.
Peacock clock was off, Clark got it off with .1 left based on the arenas clock pic.twitter.com/u466JSAnDW
— Daily MSU (@daily_msu) January 3, 2024
Some guessed that NBC Sports, which runs Peacock’s live sports broadcasts, was producing the game remotely from its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. That can make it difficult to line everything up perfectly, especially considering this was the first game of Peacock’s women’s college basketball package.
On NBC Sports’ YouTube channel, a replay is shown in which a blown-up arena clock counts down next to Clark. The clock is at 0.1 as she releases the game-winning three-pointer.
The flub even caught Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb, who took the opportunity to throw a jab at Clark out of nowhere. But even Gottlieb had to admit he was wrong after seeing the correct shot.
I stand corrected pic.twitter.com/g8F5B0xRrS
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) January 3, 2024
In October, NBC announced Peacock would exclusively broadcast 20 Big Ten women’s basketball games, including eight featuring Clark and Iowa. The company built its announcement and marketing around Clark.
Remote broadcasting troubles are understandable as NBC builds out its operations around Peacock. But it’s unfortunate that the biggest moment of the first game of this new package was mired in technical difficulties.
At least women’s hoops fans got the nice treat of WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston interviewing Clark postgame. The two will likely become teammates on the Indiana Fever this year if Clark declares for the draft.
https://twitter.com/MylesEhrlich/status/1742393811014140358?s=20
Iowa’s next Peacock broadcast comes Jan. 10 as the Hawkeyes travel to Purdue.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.