Tipsheet

'Dead to Me': NYC Sports Fans Incensed Over the Empire State Building's Lighting Choice

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  January 30, 2023 1:45 PM

It’s been a rough period for New York City sports. Unlike Philadelphia, which appears to have a penchant for building perennial playoff contenders, even their fugazi professional soccer team is good. The last time the Big Apple brought home a championship was in 2011, when the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees have spent over $2 billion in payroll over the past ten years and have yet to win another World Series since beating the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009. The New York Mets—need I say more? Has the inability to make it to the big dance caused the city to go soft? Because what they did last night during NFL championship weekend was borderline unforgivable. 

After the Eagles boat raced the San Francisco 49ers to clinch the 2022 NFC championship and another Super Bowl appearance, The Empire State Building was decked out in the color scheme of the dirty birds, which turned the heads of many in the city (via NBC New York):

What's next? A Jalen Hurts jersey on the Statue of Liberty?

Fans of the New York Giants might have thought the Empire State Building's Twitter account or exterior lighting system was hacked on Sunday. They were not, the iconic building in the heart of Manhattan really was illuminated in green and white for the Philadelphia Eagles. 

We could, of course, pretend the colors were to honor the New York Jets, but, that's just mean. 

Shortly after the Eagles' 31-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, the Empire State Building's official Twitter account tweeted a photo of the top of the iconic building and it's antenna in green and white.

[…] 

Odd considering the building is a mere eight miles from the home stadium of the Giants, arguably the Eagles' biggest rival. The Giants' season came to an end just last weekend when they lost in the divisional round to...the Eagles. 

[…] 

Perhaps an Eagles fan works in the building and flipped the switch? Not exactly. The "Tower Lights Calendar" on the Empire State Building website showed the building would be in the colors of the winning teams of both the NFC and AFC Championship games on Jan. 29. 

Their reactions were justified, and the building later changed to the colors of the Kansas City Chiefs, who won the AFC championship 23-20 over the Cincinnati Bengals. But, it doesn’t change the fact that maybe this tradition should end. The building should go dark if no New York team is playing or in the playoffs. It’s not that hard—does anyone think Philadelphia would go blue if the New York Giants won the NFC championship game? Also, the city’s residents would riot, as they should.