The reach of “Monday Night Football” this season will get a drastic increase. ABC will add 10 “Monday Night Football” simulcasts to its lineup this season, the network announced Monday. Here’s what you need to know:
- These games were previously exclusive to ESPN only.
- The expectation is that this will be a one-year situation only and is undoubtedly a result of less programming coming because of the ongoing strikes by both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
- The only “Monday Night Football” games that will not be simulcast on ABC will be the New Orleans Saints at the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 18, the Los Angeles Rams at the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 25 and the Tennessee Titans at the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 11, 2023.
“Monday Night Football” games that will now air on ABC
•Seahawks at Giants (October 2, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Packers at Raiders (October 9, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Cowboys at Chargers (October 16, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•49ers at Vikings (October 23, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Raiders at Lions (October 30, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Chargers at Jets (November 6, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Broncos at Bills (November 13, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Bears at Vikings (November 27, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Bengals at Jaguars (December 4, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
•Chiefs at Patriots (December 18, 2023 — 8:15 p.m. — ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
What this means
Sports continues to be a major driver for linear television in an era of cord-cutting and cord-nevers. The entire “Monday Night Football” schedule can be found here.
The NFL has scheduled two games Monday — the New Orleans Saints at the Carolina Panthers on ESPN at 7:15 p.m. ET, and the Cleveland Browns at the Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:15 p.m. ET on ABC. The following Monday features the Philadelphia Eagles at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 7:15 p.m. ET on ABC and the Los Angeles Rams at the Cincinnati Bengals at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN.
In short, ESPN gets an early Monday start time this week, and ABC will get it the following week. The end result will be the league and ESPN getting real-time data on viewer interest regarding “Monday Night Football” doubleheader start times.
Required reading
(Photo: Bill Streicher / USA Today)
