Fox Sports Apologizes for Slapping Yankees/Red Sox Graphic Over 9/11 Memorial

The logos of the baseball rivals were placed over the fountains memorializing the World Trade Center victims

9/11 One Day In America Fox Sports
The World Trade Center is seen in the New York City skyline. (Library of Congress/Carol M. Highsmith/Public Domain)

Fox Sports has apologized for a graphic aired during Saturday night’s “Baseball Night in America” broadcast that saw the logos of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox placed over the September 11 memorial fountains at the World Trade Center.

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

The 9/11 memorial lists the names of all who died in the 2001 terrorist attack and the 1993 bombing of what were once the two tallest buildings in New York City. The names surround two wide fountain pools placed where the towers once stood.

At the end of the eighth inning between the Yankees and Red Sox broadcast, Fox cut to commercial with a graphic of “Baseball Night in America” logo superimposed over an aerial view of the memorial, with the teams’ logo placed over the fountains. The graphic spread across social media and was condemned as insensitive, including by former ESPN and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann.

“There have to be firings over this. Lots of them,” he tweeted.

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