Fans tuning into the Sugar Bowl were outraged by a statement made by Tom Wilson, chairman, president and CEO of The Allstate Corporation, where he spoke about Wednesday's terrorist attack moments before kickoff.
The attack, which killed 14 people in the early hours of New Year's Day. postponed the College Football Playoff quarterfinals by one day, and President Joe Biden also made a pregame statement before the CEO of the game's title sponsor gave his speech.
Wilson isn't the only one criticized for his portion of Thursday's broadcast, as ESPN was criticized for not showing the national anthem or the game's minute of silence.
“Welcome to the Allstate Sugar Bowl,” Wilson's speech began. 'On Wednesday, tragedy struck the New Orleans community. Our prayers are with the victims and their families.'
'We also need to be stronger together by overcoming the addiction to division and negativity. Join Allstate working in local communities across the United States to amplify the positive, increase confidence, and embrace people's imperfections and differences. Together we will win.”
The reaction to that message was not well received in any media, including social networks.
College football fans were not happy with Wilson's message before the Sugar Bowl
Notre Dame defeated Georgia in game that was postponed one day due to attack
'Totally accommodating. Absurd,' said one person on social media.
'@Allstate should be commercially punished for this video. Incomprehensible.'
'@Allstate IN WHAT UNIVERSE was this a good idea?'
“There are other insurance companies.”
A collection of social media posts about Allstate CEO Tom Wilson's Sugar Bowl speech
After law enforcement searched and cleared the area of ​​potential hazards, the game continued as scheduled Thursday afternoon since the postponement.
Before the game began, the American national anthem was played (as is customary before sporting events in the US) and a minute of silence was observed in honor of the victims of the attack.
But neither of these moments (the anthem or the silence) were shown on ESPN, as the network had a studio show analyzing the game.
This decision was criticized on social media, with many people upset that the world leader in sports decided not to show the two events.