Fox Sports apologizes for overlaying Yankees and Red Sox logos on World Trade Center site

Jack Baer
·Staff writer
Updated ·1 min read
141
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 11: The reflecting pools at the National September 11 Memorial stand under Three World Trade Center, the third skyscraper to be built on the site of the original Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan and which officially opened on Monday morning on June 11, 2018 in New York City. The fifth tallest building in New York City, Three World Trade Center was built by developer Larry Silverstein, chairman of the Silverstein Properties, and cost the $2.7 billion. It features a a total of 2.5 million square feet of office space and stands at 1,079-feet-tall. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Fox Sports made a bizarre choice for a Baseball Night in America graphic. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The biggest misstep of Saturday's New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox didn't come on the field.

Broadcaster Fox Sports saw a swift backlash during the game, part of its Baseball Night in America telecast, after it came out of a commercial break with a graphic depicting the two rivals' logos overlaid onto the reflecting pools of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Any nationally televised Yankees game is going to see a number of New York City establishing shots, but it's not hard to see why many felt this was in bad taste:

The reflecting pools sit on the former sites of the World Trade Center and feature the names of 2,983 victims, including first responders, flight passengers and World Trade Center workers, inscribed on their side walls.

Fox Sports would soon issue an apology Sunday afternoon, saying that they exercised "poor judgment" in airing the graphic.

“During last night’s telecast, we used poor judgment on the use of a graphic," a spokesperson for Fox Sports wrote in a statement. "We sincerely apologize and regret the decision.”

While the backlash grew, the Yankees proceeded to register a one-sided win, defeating the Red Sox 14-1 to improve their record to an MLB-best 63-28. They now lead the AL East by 13 games, the largest division lead in baseball.