NBA Fans Roast Distracting Scorebug Location for Bulls' New TV Partner

This was an interesting choice.
The Bulls won their preseason opener over the Cavaliers 116–112 at  Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Bulls won their preseason opener over the Cavaliers 116–112 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. / Chicago Sports Network
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The Chicago Bulls made their preseason debut Tuesday night on the brand new Chicago Sports Network, the new television channel taking the baton from the regional sports network NBC Sports Chicago, which went dark last month.

Bulls fans tuning in for the first time were handed a bit of a surprise: The scorebug, which normally occupied the bottom right corner of the television screen during the NBC days, now sat vertically on the top left corner.

There are many variations of scorebugs used on broadcasts throughout the world of sports. But this location and style was certainly new.

The new Chicago Sports Network scorebug cut off players standing around the perimeter during offensive possessions moving left to right, and it also would get in the way of the other team hustling down the court the other way on a fast break.

NBA fans were not impressed:

The Chicago Sports Network will broadcast Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago White Sox games going forward. NBC Sports Chicago, which launched in 2004 as Comcast SportsNet Chicago, officially ceased operations on Sept. 30.

The Bulls, by the way, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 116–112 on Tuesday night behind 21 points from point guard Coby White.


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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.