NHL Team Sparks Outrage With Shocking Scoreboard Message on Hispanic Night—Fans Demand Answers
Last Saturday night, during Hispanic Heritage Night at the SAP Center, the San Jose Sharks inadvertently stirred up a hornet’s nest with a scoreboard message that seemed to cheer on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The shoutout, displayed amid the high spirits of the “Los Tiburones” game, read “SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE!! GET’EM BOYZ!” as the team’s mascot playfully blew kisses to the crowd — a gesture that quickly ignited social media outrage. Given that nearly a third of San Jose’s population is Hispanic, and the city had hosted protests earlier that day against President Trump’s hardline immigration policies, the message landed like a ton of bricks. The Sharks quickly issued an apology, acknowledging that the message slipped past their usual vetting process and expressed regret for the offense caused. This incident, coming on the heels of a tough 0-3-2 start for the team, only adds to the growing challenges facing the franchise.
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The San Jose Sharks apologized for a scoreboard shoutout that appeared to praise Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Hispanic heritage night. It’s also called the “Los Tiburones” game.
“SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE!! GET’EM BOYZ!” the message said during Saturday’s game at home as the Sharks mascot waved and blew kisses, according to the video.
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“So deeply not OK,” one observer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “What the fuck,” added another.
Hispanic people make up about a third of San Jose’s population, and the city hosted one of several “No Kings” demonstrations to protest President Donald Trump’s authoritarian policies earlier in the day. His immigration crackdown has even snared a number of U.S. citizens.
“During the first intermission of tonight’s game, an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard,” the team said in a statement on X. “Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization’s values, was not detected during our standard review process. The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message.”
While some on social media theorized that ICE merely referred to hockey, the team can’t afford PR missteps.
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It lost 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on that night and remained the only winless team in the league at 0-3-2 as of Tuesday morning.
Thearon W. Henderson via Getty Images
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