New York City may be Giants country, but fans were outraged when one of the city's most iconic landmarks was lit in the colors of one of their biggest rivals.
The Empire State Building posted an image of its iconic façade lit up in the colors of the Philadelphia Eagles, just moments after they won the NFC Championship game over the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 31-7.
Just last week, the Eagles defeated their NFC East rivals in the NFC Divisional round as Philly stomped out the New York Giants 38-7.
This season, Philadelphia defeated the Giants in all three of their contests - winning 48-22 in Week 14 and again in Week 18 by a 22-16 score.
In the divisional round, the Giants were outclassed by Philadelphia - getting just over 225 yards of total offense while allowing 416 total yards and five touchdowns.
With the wound so fresh, many Giants fans were irate with the building's decision to honor one of their most bitter enemies.
Fans took to social media to lambaste the building's owners - even though they planned to light the Empire State Building in the colors of any of the four teams competing in this weekend's championship games.
Social media quickly tweeted their reactions, with many athletes and sports personalities chipping in with their thoughts.
New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson simply tweeted, 'Lol what' when the image was revealed.
Longtime ESPN host and New York Jets fan Mike Greenberg slyly wrote, 'I'm sure this will be received really well.'
ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes asked, 'Did y'all lose a bet?' while ESPN baseball analyst Joon Lee shared a meme from Star Wars saying this was 'treason'.
The Ringer's Nora Princiotti advised the social media team's account to 'Stick to making fun of 432 Park' - a new building noted for both its opulence and its ugliness.
Some fans took this as an opportunity to poke fun at New York's other NFL team - the Jets, who share the same colors as the Eagles.
'Had those green lights waiting 54 years didn't they...,' wrote Devils and Red Bulls commentator Steve Cangialosi.
'Theory: maybe they had that color ready for the Jets and were tired of waiting,' wrote ESPN social producer Brett Edgerton.
Other fans reacted with feelings of confusion and betrayal, calling the move 'disgraceful' and saying 'I can't believe you did this'.
But it seems the account behind the ESB is defending itself against the masses, mocking Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy who criticized them.
After Portnoy called the building 'lame' and an 'absolute piece of s**t building' that he'd 'be embarrassed to have' in his city, the account replied with a picture of Portnoy fake crying.
This isn't the first time that an iconic building was lit up in the colors of that city's major sports rival.
Back in 2021, the Montreal Canadiens reached the Stanley Cup Final - becoming the first Canadian team to do so since 2011.
The CN Tower in Toronto chose to mark the occasion by lighting it up in Habs colors, despite the major rivalry between the two cities and their hockey teams.
