The television coverage of the US national team’s Copa América tie against Uruguay was heavily criticised by fans, who said the bizarre camera angles made the match “almost unwatchable”.
Christian Pulisic and his American teammates played at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night. The stadium’s height meant that camera angles for FOX Sports’ coverage were unusually high for a soccer audience.
As the match kicked off, fans immediately reacted on social media, with some even claiming the ‘bulls***’ approach gave them ‘headaches’.
ESPN soccer reporter Herculez Gomez was among the critics of the high angle, telling his 268,000 followers: “This camera angle is going to make me throw up. Wow!”
Another added: “This better not be the camera angle all the time,” while a USA fan wrote: “FOX keeps finding new ways to disappoint.”
There was an unusually high camera angle for the opening stages of the USA-Uruguay match
Fans and analysts took to social media en masse to criticize the high camera angles used for the TV broadcasts
Barstool Sports podcaster Francesca Mariano wrote to her 200,000 followers: “I can’t believe how bad this camera angle is. Almost unwatchable. Ants running around!”
Fox Sports is not responsible for the camera angles, the blame is placed on the Copa America organizers.
Even the commentators were quick to notice how high up in the stadium they were and how difficult it was to follow the match on television.
After 38 minutes – and apparently some quick changes by the production team – a new angle was used for the TV broadcast, filming from so low that the first rows of fans in the stadium were visible.
One fan joked that it looked like TV viewers were watching from a helicopter above the stadium
Shortly before half time, some quick-thinking producers managed to find a new angle for the fans
Social media gave Fox Sports a shout-out for listening to criticism of the camera angles
As the high angle was shown, even FOX Sports’ lead analyst Rob Stone wrote on Twitter: “Umm, that camera angle is something. #USMNT #steep”
During half-time he joked: ‘How’s everyone’s fear of heights?’, and in the second half the response to the new approach was much more positive.
Analyst Carli Lloyd was also quick to weigh in. However, she took a different tack, noting: ‘The referee is far worse than the camera angle!’