ABC will simulcast six other ESPN “Monday Night Football” games, including Monday’s AFC East game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets.
The addition of the six games means ABC will broadcast 17 this season – 14 simulcasts with ESPN (including two playoff games) and three games exclusively on ABC.
The decision to simulcast more games was a joint decision by the NFL and The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and ESPN.
Other games added are Baltimore at Tampa Bay (October 21), Tampa Bay at Kansas City (November 4), Houston at Dallas (November 18), Baltimore at Los Angeles Chargers (November 25) and New Orleans at Green Bay (December 23).
The only two Mondays during the remainder of the regular season that ABC will not host a game are November 11 and December 2.
ABC held games every 18 weeks last season due to an agreement with the NFL since there was no new original fall programming due to strikes by Hollywood writers and actors. With more games on network television, “Monday Night Football” averaged 17.36 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a 29% increase from 2022.
This is the best audience number for the league’s flagship primetime program since 2000. Last season, the Super Bowl LVII rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City averaged 29.03 million .
At the start of the season, ABC scheduled eight simulcasts, including two Week 18 Saturday games and two playoff games, as well as three exclusive MNF games when there were doubleheaders.
It also continues Disney’s move to return more sports programming to ABC. Super Bowl LXI in Los Angeles in 2027 will be on the network and the College Football Playoff championship game will also move to ABC that same year.
More games on ABC will also increase ratings. Kansas City’s 26-13 win over New Orleans on ESPN generated an average of 15.91 million, the fourth most-watched Monday night game not simulcast on ABC. However, the audience was down from the 17.38 million viewers for last season’s Week 5 game between Green Bay and Las Vegas.
The next game not only includes the quarterback matchup between the Jets Aaron Rodgers and the invoices Josh AllenIt’s the first time for the Jets under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich after Robert Saleh was fired following a 2-3 start to the season.
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