BRISTOL, Conn. (CBSNewYork) — ESPN apologized Tuesday after some viewers accused the network of airing a sketch that resembled a slave auction.

In the fantasy football-related sketch Monday night, an auctioneer accepts bids from a largely white group for Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who is black.

Many on social media criticized the network.

Dear @ESPN, Apologize now for doing a sketch where you auctioned a Black man off to the highest bidder. pic.twitter.com/D8SC1cjhBU — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) August 15, 2017

Soooooo are we gonna pretend that this didn't look like a slave auction because it's "fantasy football". Yeah @espn DO 👏🏾BETTER👏🏾 — Truly Opinionated 🤗 (@Forever_Jones21) August 15, 2017

Really @espn A slave auction seemed like a good idea? All involved should be fired. — Pamela Walker (@PamelaW31986513) August 15, 2017

Nobody at @espn was like maybe, ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW, is not a good time to auction of a Black man to White people, slave style?!?!? — DJ Steph Floss (@djstephfloss) August 15, 2017

ESPN released a statement to USA Today’s The Big Lead blog Tuesday saying it did not intend to re-enact a slave auction but understood how some might have had a problem with it.

“Auction drafts are a common part of fantasy football, and ESPN’s segments replicated an auction draft with a diverse slate of top professional football players,” the network said. “Without that context, we understand the optics could be portrayed as offensive, and we apologize.”

Some people felt critics of the sketch were overreacting.

I'm with you on 99.8% of things, but this is a type of fantasy football draft, auction style, where all players are auctioned off. Calm down — Ernie Estrella (@ErnieEstrella) August 15, 2017

Anyone who is in all seriousness complaining about the ESPN Fantasy Football Auction segment as being racist needs to get a clue. — Chad White (@DynastyWiseChad) August 15, 2017

Beckham responded to the controversy with one word on Twitter: “Speechless.”