There will soon be more ways to watch NFL football on Mondays. ABC is set to simulcast the full season of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
- This new change will mark the first time in 17 years ABC will have a full season of Monday Night Football.
- The move will create an even bigger audience for Monday Night Football and it comes one week after the season opener between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets was the most-watched Monday Night Football game ever.
- The move also completes what The Hollywood Reporter calls “a rather fluid ABC schedule for the fall,” as the strikes continue.
- This week will see two Monday Night Football games:
- The 1-0 New Orleans Saints travel to Carolina to take on Bryce Young and the Panthers on ESPN and ESPN2
- Nick Chubb and the Cleveland Browns head to Pittsburgh to challenge TJ Watt and the Steelers on ABC and ESPN+.
- ABC was also already scheduled to simulcast games on November 20, December 11 and December 25.
- Additionally, ABC was already set to simulcast a primetime game on Saturday, December 30 and a doubleheader on Saturday, January 6, in the final weekend of the NFL’s regular season.
- The network will also air playoff games on January 15 and January 20 or 21.
- ABC was previously the exclusive home for Monday Night Football from 1971 through 2005 before it moved to ESPN in 2006.
What they’re saying:
- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: “NFL content is the best reality television going — I know people say I script the season, but I don’t. There’s going to be opportunities during this period of time, which is unfortunate, but it exists, and I think our content is going to have more opportunities during this fall season. It’s reliable content, and it’s reliable from an advertising standpoint.”