NEED TO KNOW
- New York sports fans are furious about the Empire State Building lighting up in Patriots colors after New England won the 2026 AFC Championships on Jan. 25
- Giants and Jets lovers, who are direct rivals of the Patriots, aired their grievances on social media
- The Patriots will face the Seattle Seahawks at the 2026 Super Bowl in San Francisco on Sunday, Feb. 8
Is the Empire State Building trolling?
New York sports fans are enraged that the city’s iconic monument honored the New England Patriot’s AFC Championship win with red, white and blue lights in celebration of their Super Bowl-bound victory on Sunday, Jan. 25.
Meanwhile, the Patriots — who are well-known to be a rival team of both the New York Giants and the New York Jets — weren’t just honored with a light up display on the 102-story, Art Deco skyscraper, a tribute tweet on X also accompanied the gesture.
Empire State Building/X
“Santa Clara bound! Shining in @Patriots colors in honor of their AFC Championship win,” wrote the official Empire State Building X account after the New England team’s 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos.
A video of the 1,250 foot tall monument glowing in red, white and blue accompanied the tweet.
Jets and Giants fans — who hate on the Patriots for Spygate and for the the 2008 and 2012 Super Bowls, respectively — were not pleased with the decision, and made their thoughts and feelings known on social media.
“Wait, is this a joke? You are in New York! You think if the Jets won they would be lighting buildings up in green in Boston? I feel like I’m having a stroke,” wrote one X user in response to the post.
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Kara Durrette/Getty
“DISGRACE,” simply commented another.
“What kinda crap is this? Fire the person making these decisions,” tweeted a third.
“I mean… it ain’t like they bout to use those colors for the Giants,” joked a fourth.
Kara Durrette/Getty ; Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty
This isn’t the first time the Empire State Building lit up with another team’s colors. They glowed green when the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFC Championships last year, too.
“I’m sorry I have to do this. Shining in @Eagles colors in honor of their NFC Championship win,” the official account tweeted along with a video of the skyscraper in January 2025.
It also wasn’t only the Patriots the Empire State Building celebrated on Sunday night. They also showed love to the Seattle Seahawks, the team that will be facing New England in the 2026 Super Bowl on Feb. 8 in San Francisco.
“The stage is set. Lighting in green and blue @Seahawks colors to celebrate their NFC Championship win,” wrote the monument’s official Instagram account in a joint-post with the team.
