ESPN’s not havana good day! The network’s flagship program, SportsCenter, attempted to shame the slums outside Cuba’s baseball stadium in a tweet on Tuesday, March 22, but the comment backfired and highlighted poverty in the United States instead.
The SportsCenter account posted a photo of the dilapidated buildings outside Havana’s Estadio Latinoamericano, where President Barack Obama was watching a baseball game with Cuban president Raúl Castro during his historic trip. “Meanwhile, next to the stadium in Havana…,” the daily sports show wrote, attempting to show the contrast between the run-down neighborhood and the fancy ballpark.
Meanwhile, next to the stadium in Havana… pic.twitter.com/4nHUzVNO5e
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 22, 2016
Not long after, ESPN started to receive major backlash on social media from viewers and other sports outlets. Justin Klugh, a blogger for SB Nation, responded with a tweet of the area outside the New York Mets’ Citi Field in Willets Point, Queens. The scene looked just as bad, if not worse, than the image of Cuba.
Tweeters were quick to point out that Citi Field is just one of the countless examples of poor neighborhoods that surround multi-million dollar ballparks. Check out the responses below.
