NFL RedZone offices were forced to evacuate Sunday due to a false alarm, according to an NFL spokesperson. The show was live on air when the alarm started to go off at approximately 7:16 p.m. ET.
“Thankfully there was no fire,” the NFL spokesperson said. “No business functions, including NFL RedZone, were interrupted.”
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Host Scott Hanson said he was “in the middle of an update” when he heard the alarm go off.
“I tried to continue without calling attention to it, hoping it was a false alarm that would be quickly shut off,” Hanson told The Athletic. “When it kept going, I figured the audience was hearing it so I referenced that it was going off and apologized if it was a distraction. My producer got initial word that it might be legit. So I told the audience we were being told to evacuate.”
Hanson said the RedZone feed was “parked” on the Buffalo Bills-Philadelphia Eagles game, and just as he was about to take off his microphone, he was told to “don’t leave yet.”
“We were given permission to stay in studio,” Hanson said. “But the scenario was such, they wanted us to sign off the air. So I came on camera, bemused as the circumstance was, and signed off. Over 250 episodes of NFL RedZone — this was a first. I am very thankful for the concern shown by so many of our viewers. We’ll be back next Sunday ready to answer the bell, whatever bell that might be!”
Viewers could hear the bell as background noise during the broadcast. And when Hanson was on camera, the flashing alarm strobe could be seen reflecting off his sport coat.
On NFL Sundays, about 300 people would be working at the NFL Network studios in Inglewood, Cal., adjacent to SoFi Stadium. It also has a backup studio at NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J., for just this kind of incident.
Well, that was…. interesting.
Alarm has stopped.
Apparently all clear.
Still waiting on details.
Thanks for watching NFL RedZone week 12 ! One to remember.
— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) November 27, 2023
RedZone has been owned and operated by NFL Network since 2009. It broadcasts during the NFL regular season starting at 1 p.m. ET, providing simulcast, alternating coverage of all the Sunday afternoon games. As Hanson says at the top of every broadcast, RedZone shows “seven hours of commercial-free football.”
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Hanson has been the host of RedZone since the program began in 2009.
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(Photo: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
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