NBC Sports Philadelphia
Television networks that broadcast sporting events routinely update the score bug that allows viewers to keep track of the most vital information as a game is unfolding. That includes NBC Sports Philadelphia, which unveiled a new graphics package ahead of the 2025 MLB season—one that has sadly made the “POOP Game” between the Pirates and the Phillies a thing of the past.
It’s kind of crazy to realize there was once a time when sports fans who tuned into a game on television weren’t able to benefit from the section of the screen dedicated to a static graphic that reflects the score, clock, and other information that makes it easy to keep track of what’s going on.
Those invaluable tools are referred to as a “score bug” and were initially adopted by British broadcasters who used them to display the score and clock during soccer matches in the first half of the 1990s (prior to that point, updates would briefly show up on the screen at periodic intervals).
ABC and ESPN adopted the score bug when they aired the World Cup in 1994, and it didn’t take long for the feature to become the norm as other networks with the rights to North America’s “Big Four” sports leagues followed suit.
Those networks are constantly tweaking the design of their score bugs in the hopes of providing viewers with an optimal viewing experience.; the primary focus is ensuring they don’t end up blocking out key moments in a game, but there’s also plenty of attention played to the aesthetics.
In most cases, those updates end up being a bit of an afterthought. With that said, there are more than a few exceptions; plenty of people who watched Super Bowl LIX weren’t exactly enamored with the new one Fox debuted during the broadcast, and some MLB fans are less than thrilled with what they’re going to lose now that NBC Sports Philadelphia has changed its score bug for the 2025 season.
The Phillies kicked off their slate of spring training games over the weekend, and their hometown network gave fans their first look at the score bug that will be replacing the one it was previously using.
The Phillies new score bug sucks loads of ass pic.twitter.com/5nTMvwYA5u
— Philly Sports Sufferer (@mccrystal_alex) February 23, 2025
I can see why some people might have an issue with the painfully generic nature of the new score bug, but that gripe pales in comparison to the realization that it also marks the end of the “POOP Game,” which we were treated to every time the Phillies kick off a game against the Pirates due to the Ps that flanked the zeros on the scoreboard (as seen in the image at the top of this post).
R.I.P. in peace, POOP Game.