The San Jose Sharks hockey team will not explain how a message in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement made its way onto the big screen.
The incident happened during the first intermission on Saturday at the Sharks’ annual Hispanic celebration at the SAP Center in San Jose, California.
‘The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight.’
During the break in the scoreless game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a text image appeared on the arena’s scoreboard reading, “SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE!! GET’EM BOYZ!” along with a video of the team mascot, S.J. Sharkie, waving next to the message.
A fan captured the message in a video and posted it to X.
“Hey [Sharks], how on earth is this an acceptable thing to have on your Jumbotron, like, ever, much less on a night honoring Hispanic heritage? I’m so appalled and disappointed in you right now,” the fan wrote.
This prompted an apology from the organization later that night, describing the message as offensive and coming from an “outside source.”
“During the first intermission of tonight’s game, an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard,” the message explained. “Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization’s values, was not detected during our standard review process. The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message.”
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Blaze News asked the team if the investigation was concluded and what exactly the team was apologizing for.
Scott Emmert, the team’s senior vice president of communications, responded and said the organization declined to provide further comment on the situation.
In video of the incident, at the bottom of the screen, a scrolling message stated, “Want to see your personalized greeting here? Visit sjsharkie.com.”
That URL leads to a website offering a “Name in Lights” scoreboard greeting program.
“The Sharks are offering completely customizable greetings. Your greeting will appear in lights during the 1st intermission and you may add any greeting to the center hung scoreboard,” the program states.
Restrictions on the messages include those with a commercial purpose or any that are “obscene, offensive, or refer negatively to any NHL team.”
Using NHL players’ names is also prohibited, and the team reserves the right to remove or edit any message. In the case of a removal, the $75 fee is refunded.
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The night in question was the team’s ninth annual Los Tiburones game, “a celebration of the team’s commitment to the Bay Area’s vibrant Hispanic community.”
The night spotlights Latino performers and concessions, a Spanish-language broadcast, and, of course, a bevy of merchandise.
In the aftermath of the scoreboard message, fans were outraged, but their political leanings depended on the platform.
On X, the team saw an overwhelmingly pro-ICE response, with messages such as “why is supporting law enforcement offensive,” and “So the Sharks are in favor of illegal immigration? Is that what I’m gathering?”
On Instagram, however, multiple unrelated posts by the team saw messages calling the team racist or asking “you guys gonna start calling ice on fans or what?”
The Sharks did not make a dedicated post with their apology on Instagram.
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Fearless, San jose, California, Ice, Dhs, Illegal immigration, Woke, Sports
