NBC Explains That Brief Blackout During Super Bowl LII

NBC is blaming equipment failure for the blackout that caused a brief fit of panic during Super Bowl LII.

On Sunday, Feb. 4, football fans around the country gathered around their TVs to watch the match between the New England Patriots and underdogs the Philadelphia Eagles, but a night full of tailgating and fun quickly turned into a brief moment of panic when the screen cut to black.

The nearly 30-second-long blackout occurred just after announcers went to commercial break, causing many fans to wonder if something was wrong with their cable, and if they had missed any of the game. But according to NBC, the dead air didn’t cause fans to miss anything or cost the network in lost commerical time — a 30-second Super Bowl ad is worth millions. It was simply the result of equipment failure that was quickly fixed.

“We had a brief equipment failure that we quickly resolved. No game action or commercial time were missed,” an NBC spokesperson said in a statement.

While NBC’s statement came shortly after the blackout occurred, that didn’t stop some from theorizing what had happened, including fast food chain Wendy’s, who took aim at rival chain McDonald’s.

“Y’all freeze that live feed?” the burger chain, which was founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, asked McDonald’s, referring to the Golden Arches flash frozen beef.

Super Bowl LII saw the Philadelphia Eagles end the third-longest championship drought in NFL history when they beat the New England Patriots 41-33, scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and stopping five-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady from marching down the field in the closing two minutes.

Their win, which was celebrated on social media, was also celebrated by Eagles fans back in Philadelphia in very dangerous ways.

Footage posted on social media showed overzealous fans taking to the streets and setting cars on fire. One group of fans even climbed onto the top of an awning at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, causing it to collapse. Other fans climbed street poles and tipped cars over.