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Racing fans weren’t happy to see the highly anticipated Rolex 24 broadcast delayed for college basketball. A game between Duquesne and Fordham ran over, forcing viewers on USA Network to wait to watch their scheduled event.
The race, held at the famed Daytona International Speedway, is a 24-hour marathon that occurs once a year. NBC took the initial coverage but passed it over to its sister station at 2:30 PM.
Those hoping to catch the action on USA Network were met with a near half-hour delay.
Duquesne hosted conference rival Fordham on Saturday in what ended up being a slugfest. It also happened to be $1 Beer Day for those in attendance.
$1 beers Saturday. Let’s have a day. https://t.co/0Ta21nm1VX
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) January 24, 2024
Those attendees would need every sip of alcohol to get through a low-scoring, foul-ridden matchup.
Neither team cracked the 70-point mark with both squads combining to shoot 5-35 from beyond the arc. The ball just wouldn’t go in the basket!
At the first media timeout I have drank more beers than Duquesne has points. Dollar beer day off to a raucous start #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/Wa2lf5o0az
— connor newell (@cnewell15) January 27, 2024
To make matters worse, a total of 44 fouls(!) were called throughout the contest with both teams racking up 22 each.
Those fouls led to the game running over its scheduled time slot by 25 minutes.
Rather than switch broadcasts, USA Network continued to air the remainder of the matchup, delaying the start of its Rolex 24 coverage – and race fans weren’t happy!
Many quickly headed to social media to vent their frustrations, calling out the network for the delay.
Hey, Duquesne has looked about as drunk as the average $1 beer day participate so Fordham could come back and win this game
— ReachFor24 (@For24Reach) January 27, 2024
“Rolex 24 happens ONCE A YEAR, and we can’t watch because of the all-important Fordham-Duquesne game?!”
“I want to watch the race, but this basketball game will not end!”
“Rolex 24 is currently being blocked on national TV because of Fordham vs. Duquesne LOL.”
“Hey Fordham and Duquesne, stop fouling each other and end your game already.”
“Thirty minutes of the worst basketball I’ve ever seen instead of racing.”
Duquesne vs Fordham on USA with fans popping up in the cameras is still going on. NO ONE LISTENS???
— JJF (@Ramblerguy) January 27, 2024
For those that owned a Peacock subscription, there was no issue. For those that didn’t, it was another story!
The basketball game eventually ended with a nine-point Duquesne win, but those racing fans will never get that half-hour of their life back.