COPA AMéRICA: INTERNET ROASTS FOX FOR BIZARRE USA-URUGUAY CAMERA ANGLE, PROMPTING A CHANGE MID-GAME: 'ARE THEY USING A BLIMP?'
All eyes were on Monday's Copa América clash between USA and Uruguay from Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.
They did not like what they saw.
From the opening moments of Uruguay's 1-0 win that eliminated USA in group play, the broadcast on Fox drew visceral reaction on social media from viewers noting the less-than-professional presentation of a high-stakes international soccer game.
The problem? The camera angle was off. Way off.
Rather than a standard lower angle that allows viewers to actually identify the players on the field, this game looked on TV as if it was being broadcast from a drone or a blimp high above the playing field. The reaction was so intense that Fox play-by-play announcer Stu Holden addressed it minutes into the game. He placed the blame on the CONMEBOL world feed that feeds video to the Fox broadcast.
Here's a look at the broadcast alongside Holden's commentary:
"This is not a stadium for ants," Holden joked. "This is a very high camera angle for the CONMEBOL world feed. ... For the tactics junkies, I'm sure this is great."
For comparison, here's a screenshot of the broadcast from Monday's other Copa América game between Bolivia and Panama from Orlando. This is what a soccer broadcast is supposed to look like:
The jokes were fast and furious on social media with some suggesting that the camera angle was from the moon:
Or on drugs:
Or from a blimp:
The Goodyear Blimp chimed in and confirmed that it was, in fact, not providing the much-chastised feed:
The jokes kept coming with references to video games, "Zoolander," and All-22 feeds used by football coaches and analysts to watch every player on the field at once:
By the 39th minute, Fox had heard enough. The broadcast abruptly switched to a more traditional angle at the 38:31 mark with the game tied at 0-0.
Social media approved: