ABC’s Auburn-Kentucky broadcast cuts out for most of second half after generator catches fire

What a way to kick off March.

Auburn and Kentucky fans were likely losing their minds on Saturday afternoon, and not just because the No. 1 Tigers bested the No. 17 Wildcats, 94-78.

Fans who were watching the highly anticipated clash on ABC, unfortunately, missed most of the final 12 minutes of the game after the broadcast lost both its picture and audio on the channel in the second half, first cutting to a blue screen and then a commercial break.

Following about seven minutes of uninterrupted commercials, the network sent an update saying, “For those of you watching on ABC, they’re having technical difficulties inside Rupp Arena. We want to let you know, you will see Texas Tech and Kansas until they get things figured out here, the game that’s playing out right now over on ESPN.”

Only ABC did not show fans a different college basketball game, but rather the pregame show for the scheduled Bruins-Penguins NHL game that was set to follow the Auburn-Kentucky showdown with a 3 p.m. ET start time.

The Bruins and Penguins game started without any switch to a college game, let alone the initial game they tuned in for.

Shortly after the game started, Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio reported the broadcast trouble came from a “major technical issue” involving the truck the ABC team brought to the Kentucky game.

“I am told there was a major technical issue outside of Rupp Arena by the ABC TV truck and it lost all power,” he wrote on X. “Trying to find backup power now but not sure it will happen before the end.”

Around 3:30 p.m., ESPN posted its own update on the outage.

“Programming update: #NCAAMBB on ABC’s broadcast of @AuburnMBB at @KentuckyMBB is experiencing technical difficulties. NHL is now underway on ABC,” the post read.

Inside the arena, referees also could not do official reviews because of the outage, LEX18 reported.

The broadcast later resumed on ESPN News with only 2:23 left in the game, and play-by-play voice Dan Shulman clarified news about the cause of outage, saying a generator caught fire.

“Well we would like to welcome everyone back here,” Shulman said. “We know we have been gone for a while now…Here’s what happened: a generator here at Rupp Arena caught on fire. So, first and foremost, thankfully, form what we understand, everybody is okay, but obviously that knocked us off the air for a long long time. We are back.”

Thankfully for fans that missed out on most of the second half, they didn’t miss anything decisive that led to the game’s outcome.

Auburn was leading 68-52 when the feed crashed, and it maintained its well-established lead the rest of the way, which led to some jokes on social media.

“Auburn is beating Kentucky so badly they literally pulled the plug on the broadcast,” one user wrote.

“Kentucky really said “Y’all haven’t seen us lose to Auburn in this building in 37 years and you ain’t gonna see it today either,” another wrote on X.

Sports reporter Rick Bozich of WDRB in Louisville said fans were owed a big apology.

“ESPN/ABC owes Kentucky fans a king-sized apology,” he wrote on X. “Missed first 12-plus minutes of the Oklahoma game Wednesday because A&M-Vandy ran long. Now they’ve lost the end of the Auburn game, so we’re getting an NHL pregame show. Err ball.”

ESPN did issue an official statement after the game.

“In a freak accident, a generator at Rupp Arena caught on fire causing us to lose power and be knocked off the air as a result,” the network said, per the Lexington Herald Leader. “Thankfully, no one was harmed on-site. We apologize that fans watching on ABC were impacted for a period in the second half.”

Auburn had not won a game at Rupp Arena since 1988, when they clawed to a 53-52 win over the then-No.1 Kentucky.

Saturday also marked the Tigers’ first win over the Wildcats since 2022.