Last week, ESPN promised new graphics for their coverage of the upcoming college basketball season, and on Friday the network rolled out a brand new scorebug as well — one that’s bulkier and denser than we’re used to from the network. At first glance, it looks to have more text than previous ESPN score graphics, but upon closer examination, it contains all the same information, just packed a little tighter and in a bigger font.
See for yourself here:
The colors change depending on the teams playing, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. Each version, however, features a transparent black bar extending to the side of the screen.
Get a load of the new scorebug for ESPN college hoops. pic.twitter.com/wLENmMfWdx
— Nick Loucks (@Nicks2Cents) November 10, 2017
And here’s a reminder of what ESPN’s college basketball scorebug used to look like, for comparison.
Some of the information (fouls, possession arrow) that used to be hidden below the score is now next to it, in a display that kind of resembles cat whiskers. That, plus a more blocky text, makes the whole image seem a bit unwieldy.
The good people of Twitter were not necessarily fans of the new look.
https://twitter.com/Rovitz/status/929132649683279872
https://twitter.com/thenatevaughan/status/929129800937148416
https://twitter.com/aBrianLangford/status/929126001292070913
https://twitter.com/MikeStrawMedia/status/929125885093011456
In ESPN’s defense, however, the scorebug does have some fans.
https://twitter.com/AVKingJames/status/929026395732369409
The ESPN CBB scorebug is alright. I don’t like the tire tracks on each side.
— https://linktr.ee/thispersonstinks (@tracytran) November 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/CadeCarlton/status/929012806384484352
And a poll of Kansas fans showed popular opinion on the bug is only slightly negative.
Whether you like or dislike ESPN’s graphic choices, you’re probably going to have to get used to them because there’s a whole lot of college basketball ahead.