Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
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In 2023, Michigan State found itself dealing with plenty of backlash after a picture of Hitler appeared on the scoreboard during a football game. That development eventually sparked a lawsuit, and the school has agreed to fork over a six-figure sum to put the matter to rest.
If you’ve ever attended a sporting event in person, there’s a good chance you’ve gotten the chance to challenge yourself with a trivia question that appeared on the scoreboard or Jumbotron during a lull in the action.
In most cases, those quizzes are designed to test your knowledge of the home team’s history, and some lucky fans are rewarded with a jersey or some other kind of swag if they’re able to get it right after being put on the spot.
However, Michigan State opted to go a slightly different route when they hosted Michigan for a football game on October 23, 2023, as fans who headed into the stadium before kickoff were greeted by a giant image of Adolf Hitler on the scoreboard accompanied by a question that challenged them to name the country where he was born.
The university swiftly issued an apology, saying it was “deeply sorry ” and stressing the picture did not align with its “institutional values” (it was an especially sensitive time when you consider Hamas had launched a string of attacks in Israel on October 7th, a little more than two weeks before).
A spokesperson initially blamed a third party that it said was responsible for providing the trivia questions that were intended to help entertain fans prior to kickoff, but the school ultimately threw an unnamed employee who was suspended over the incident under the bus.
The question in question was eventually traced back to a YouTube video containing various general knowledge brainteasers that were put together by Floris van Pallandt, a creator based in the Netherlands who filed a $150,000 lawsuit against Michigan State on the grounds of intellectual property theft and reputational damage stemming from the fallout.
According to The State News, the learning institution has put the matter to rest by settling the matter for $30,000 in an agreement where it was not forced to cop to any liability but acknowledged it used five of the quizzes he created without his permission.
As a result, it would appear one of the stranger college football sagas to unfold in recent memory has come to an end.