It’s fairly common for the network or broadcaster that holds the Super Bowl rights to use it as a platform to debut shiny new features and graphics packages each year.
NBC Sports will broadcast Super Bowl LX on February 8, and it appears they plan on debuting a new NFL scorebug during the game.
A day after an incorrect version of a new scorebug briefly went viral on social media, a version purported to be the actual new version circulated.
Awful Announcing contributor Manny Soloway confirmed that the scorebug appeared on an unscrambled NBC satellite test feed.
Lending credence to the scorebug’s veracity is that it features the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots, the two teams who will play Sunday, January 11, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
The current version of the NBC sportsbug features a circular clock in the center, with the score flanking it on both sides. The outer rectangle of the graphic includes the team names, logo, and timeout counter.
The reportedly new scorebug keeps the circular clock feature centered but moves the timeout counter below the scores. It also changes the end rectangles into longer and curved edges. The bug appears to have slightly shrunk the team names and scores, and may be using a slightly less bright white.
UPDATE: Turns out, NBC spilled the beans about their new scorebug (or as they call it, scorebar) to SVG News earlier this week, adding that it will debut on Sunday for the Chargers-Patriots game.
“The scorebar that you’ll see on Sunday in the Wild Card game will be the scorebar for the Super Bowl,” NBC Sports Coordinating Producer, Sunday Night Football, Rob Hyland told SVG News. “I want our team to get a couple of reps with it.”
NBC will also debut a brand-new insert package on Sunday, though “Super Bowl animations and all that will be reserved for Super Bowl Sunday.”
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.