The Sharks’ Jumbotron Slip-Up and the Larger Debate on Free Speech in Sports

Last Saturday, the San Jose Sharks tallied their fifth loss of the season, losing 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins and remaining completely winless on the season.¹ While the on-ice performance has been far from ideal, fans were still able to relax as the team was celebrating its ninth annual Hispanic Heritage Night.² Los Tiburones Night, as it is referred to by the team, is described as a celebration of “the team’s commitment to the Bay Area’s vibrant Hispanic community.”³ A commitment that the Sharks appeared to be truly dedicated to, until about halfway through the first intermission.⁴

Like many other teams in both the NHL and other professional leagues, the Sharks allow arena-goers to text a phone number for a chance for their message to appear on the stadium jumbotron. Comments about the game and support for the Sharks flashed across the jumbotron until the message “SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE!! GET ‘EM BOYZ!” was displayed.⁵ The arena was filled with boos until the message was removed.⁶ Many fans were left feeling betrayed and questioned the policies in place to moderate messages before they are shown.⁷

Immediately following the contest, the Sharks took to social media to apologize for the message being displayed.⁸ They claimed that the message was not detected during their standard review process and did not accurately reflect the organization’s values.⁹ They maintained that an investigation is ongoing to determine how the message was able to be displayed and deeply regret and apologize for the oversight.¹⁰

The incident fits the ongoing struggle that professional leagues are currently facing, the paradox between free speech and potentially offensive material. Critics of the message being displayed claim that potentially offensive material does not belong at sporting events and that the message should have been filtered out; supporters claim that free speech should reign supreme.¹¹ Ultimately, both sides make valid points, and the battle between them leaves franchises in an uncomfortable dilemma. Teams attempt to create avenues for engaging fan experiences while also preventing their abuse. Events such as these may soon cause the demise of fan engagement across all major sports leagues.

1. https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/san-jose-sharks-nhl-ice-b2848588.html ↩︎
2. Id. ↩︎
3. Id. ↩︎
4. Id. ↩︎
5. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/ice-message-san-jose-sharks-game-fallout/3966960/ ↩︎
6. Supra, note 1. ↩︎
7. Id. ↩︎
8. https://people.com/san-jose-sharks-apologize-for-pro-ice-message-that-left-hockey-fans-appalled-11832918 ↩︎
9. Supra, note 1. ↩︎
10. Id. ↩︎
11. https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-jose-sharks-apologize-scoreboard-message-supporting-ice-during-hispanic-heritage-night ↩︎