The production team for CBS Sports has struggled a little bit during the AFC Championship game, particularly on the audio side of things. It began during the National Anthem, as Ashanti tried to deliver the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Those watching on CBS could only hear portions of her performance.
However, the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium had her back during the song, and the microphones were able to pick up the crowd’s backup vocals:
Don’t think I’ve ever heard a stadium crowd sing a long to the national anthem this loudly before pic.twitter.com/42SNXVPp9N
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) January 30, 2022
Then there was the halftime show.
While fans at home were trying to listen to the analysis from Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms, Nate Burleson, Bill Cowher and James Brown, the halftime performance was going on from Walker Hayes.
And it was nearly impossible for anyone to hear what was going on, including the analysts, thanks to the positioning of the speakers:
Who scheduled a football game in the middle of the @walkerhayes concert?
The 'Fancy Like' singer was the halftime performer at the Bengals/Chiefs game, and the announcers from CBS were not amused. pic.twitter.com/VV108t9Uwg
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 30, 2022
Twitter, of course, was ready with the reactions.