Overview
- ESPN confirmed on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026 that it will stop showing the BottomLine score ticker during live regular-season college football games across its ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ACC Network and SEC Network broadcasts.
- The change keeps the ticker off the screen but preserves score alerts at set points each quarter and occasional updates above the score bug or in the top-right corner to relay scores and programming shifts.
- Fans and commentators reacted strongly and splitly, with some praising the reduced clutter and others saying removing the rolling scores will make it harder to monitor other games without leaving the broadcast.
- The move extends ESPN’s existing practice for marquee events like the College Football Playoff and postseason NBA and NHL games and follows long-standing broadcast norms used by Fox, CBS and NBC.
- Because most viewers already use phones or apps for live scores, the network expects a cleaner picture to keep attention on the game but the change could affect viewer behavior, channel switching, and whether rival networks adopt the same minimalist look.