Fans tuning into the Sugar Bowl were incensed by a statement made by Tom Wilson, the chairman, president and CEO of The Allstate Corporation, where he talked about Wednesday’s terrorist attack moments before kickoff.
The attack, which killed 14 in the early hours on New Year’s Day,. postponed the College Football Playoff quarterfinal by a day, with President Joe Biden also making a statement before the game before the game’s primary sponsor’s CEO made his speech.
Wilson is not the only one under fire for their part of Thursday’s broadcast, as ESPN was slammed for not showing the national anthem or the game’s minute of silence.
‘Welcome to the Allstate Sugar Bowl,’ Wilson’s speech began. ‘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 an addiction to divisiveness and negativity. Join Allstate working in local communities all across America to amplify the positive, increase trust, and accept peoples imperfections and differences. Together we win.’
The reaction to that message was not well received in any medium, including on social media.
College football fans were not happy with the message from Wilson before the Sugar Bowl
Notre Dame defeated Georgia in the game that was postponed a day because of the attack
‘Total pandering. Absurd,’ one person said on social media.
‘@Allstate must be commercially punished for this video. Incomprehensible.’
‘@Allstate IN WHAT UNIVERSE was this a good idea?’
‘There’s other insurance companies.’
A collection of social-media messages about Allstate CEO Tom Wilson’s Sugar Bowl speech
After law enforcement searched and cleared the area of any potential hazards, the game went on as scheduled on Thursday afternoon from the postponement.
Before the game kicked off, the American national anthem was played (as is custom before sporting events in the US) and a moment of silence to honor the victims of the attack were held.
But neither of these moments – the anthem or the silence – were shown on ESPN as the network instead had a studio show breaking down the game.
This decision was criticized on social media – with plenty of people upset that the Worldwide Leader in Sports would choose to not show the two events.
