ESPN added logo to court after complaints about auraless NBA Finals broadcast
ESPN added logo to court after complaints about auraless NBA Finals broadcast
For the past few years, the NBA Finals broadcasts have turned almost indistinguishable from any other nationally televised game in the regular season. And that blame falls entirely on ESPN and the league itself.
But hey, at least ESPN saw the complaints and attempted to do something about it for Game 2 — albeit as a cheap half measure.
One of the major critiques from fans has been how NBA Finals games no longer look like a major championship event just from an aesthetic standpoint. There used to be a massive Larry O'Brien Trophy at midcourt. That's all been scrapped in favor of superimposed ads for YouTube TV and Emirates.
On Sunday, though, ESPN did bring back the Larry O'Brien Trophy with a digitally added image on the court. It looked, uh, not great.
It was something, but the low-resolution trophy didn't exactly scream MAJOR EVENT either.
Eventually, the trophy image was scrapped in favor of the cursive Finals logo (presented by YouTube TV, of course).
These games used to have player introductions and national anthems included in the broadcast — along with the NBA Finals logo actually on the court. This was still a huge step back even if ESPN tried to address the visual issue on the fly.
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