The United States wasn’t the only one to drop the ball on Monday night.
The broadcast struggled nearly as much as Gregg Berhalter’s squad.
Viewers were baffled by the persistent high camera angle at Arrowhead Stadium, which even Fox analyst Stu Holden joked made it look like a “stadium for ants.” Those who stayed tuned in were treated to a 1-0 Uruguay win, eliminating the American men from the Copa América after a thoroughly mediocre performance.
As Holden explained, broadcasters all across the planet were dealing with the same thing. “This is a very high camera for the CONMEBOL world feed,” he said during the game.
Apparently Fox Sports was as irate as the fans were.
According to The Athletic, Fox Sports producers were “furious” at the camera angles shortly after the game started and were on the phone with tournament officials to fix the issue. While Fox Sports was the host broadcaster, the television picture came through the world feed, which is controlled by tournament organizer CONMEBOL, and not the individuals working the program.
But Fox Sports is not blameless for other aspects of how the game was presented. They handled the controversial Uruguay goal in baffling fashion, with the replays coming in late and disruptive fashion. After the match, an official refused to shake hands with Christian Pulisic; on social media, Fox cut out the interaction that directly preceded it, where Pulisic appeared to tell him to go celebrate with the Uruguayan team.
Ultimately, after more than half an hour, the broadcast was switched to the lower camera angle—which was used for a recent Inter Miami-Sporting Kansas match held at the stadium—late in the first half.
Fox Sports and CONMEBOL did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment on the broadcast situation. The Chiefs, Arrowhead’s main tenant, declined to comment and deferred questions to tournament organizers.
