ESPN’s broadcast of the Tennessee Titans’ case against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, January 8, 2023, was full of not-so-cute Buffalo Bills player, Damar Hamlin, who remains in the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest during the “Monday Night Football” broadcast of January 2, 2023.
Hamlin wears the number 3, so many tributes have played in tribute to it — and sports broadcasting giant ESPN found a clever way to turn mic flags into a “3” — just by turning them upside down.
ESPN commentators usually carry microphones with white cubed mic flags with a red “E” on them surrounded by a black border, which is obviously an acronym for “ESPN”.
It is possible to purchase rectangular microphone flags that will most likely fit the entire horizontal ESPN logo.
These are often three-sided and can be larger and sturdier, so it looks like ESPN chose to just use its first letter in this microphone flag design — a look it also uses for an app icon or avatar on digital platforms.
However, some at ESPN seemed to have the clever idea of flipping all the flags upside down, making the “E” become a “3” to honor Hamlin and send positive vibes his way.
Throughout the broadcast, fans were shown holding signs saluting Hamlin and at least one of the “3”s was identified on one of the red 30-yard markers.
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Sideline employees were also seen sporting T-shirts in Hamlin’s honor.
What is mic flag?
Mic flags are seen across television and sports news all the time.
One of the most popular places to watch a lot together is during a press conference – when both the TV and radio stations in attendance place their microphones in front of the presenter’s location on what’s often called a mic tree. These devices can have anywhere from a few to dozens of microphones and have the advantage of allowing each station to separately record audio from anyone speaking.
Other press conferences, typically those held in briefing rooms that are pre-wired for this type of event, may have only one microphone (combined in some cases, back-up) in front of the speaker but allow all stations to access audio either through a digital feed Or let them plug a cable into a board that allows them to capture audio.
Microphone flags are often shown in field interviews and live reports—either with them held in front of the interviewee or in the hands of the reporter themselves.
They have the advantage of allowing stations to put their logo or branding on camera in some other way. In the case of press events or when more than one station is interviewing the same person, it often means that, in a strange twist of fate, the logo of one or more competing stations will appear on the air of the others.
Microphone flags are usually made of hard, high impact plastic. They can be blocks with logos printed on four sides (sometimes with different images on all or some sides). The other one looks like triangles from behind when viewed from above and has three faces. For stations with round or distinctively shaped logos, it is also possible to arrange the stations in custom shapes that match the logo’s footprint. These can be three or four sides.
Microphone flags usually work by simply inserting the bottom of the microphone through two designated holes in the plastic, usually at the top and bottom.
An interesting thing happens with microphone flags when a Network News Service reporter or one reporter from a station group is sent into a story to report live or recorded for multiple stations. In many cases, these crews will travel with a mic flag from each station they expect to report to.
They are placed within reach of the reporter (often on the floor or floor) and the reporter takes the correct report of the station about to show a live report and puts it on the microphone. Then, this is set aside and replaced with another for the next station in line, and so on.
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