Is Monday Night Football on Regular TV
Is there anything quite like Monday Night Football? After the rush of the previous day’s games and the completion of the Thursday night game, avid and casual NFL fans gather around their televisions on Monday night to watch the Monday Night Football game.
But before you can start watching the game, you may be wondering, is Monday Night Football on regular tv?
It’s a common question and a bit of a complicated one. So, below, we are going to look at just whether or not Monday Night Football is on regular tv and, if not, where are the best places to watch Monday Night Football.
What is Monday Night Football?
Monday Night Football, or abbreviated as simply MNF, is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League games, which airs in the United States, Canada, and in much of Europe. It remains one of the most popular live sports broadcasts in American and typically garners over 13.5 million viewers, up 12% from 2020 and 8% from 2019.
Monday Night Football, contrary to games played on Thursday or Sunday, only features one key matchup. Typically featuring inter-conference rivals or standout teams and players, the game does not have to compete for audience eyeballs as it is the only game on the air.
Similarly, as the official start of the following NFL weekly schedule, it is an important game for NFL fantasy players, many of whom look to start the week off strong with a good performance during the Monday night game.
Where Does Monday Night Football Air?
One of the most popular live broadcasts on television, Monday Night Football aired exclusively on ABC from 1970 to 2005.
In 2020, Monday Night Football returned exclusively to ABC, with the network opting to share select simulcasts with sister network, ESPN. However, beginning in 2022, ESPN will be the exclusive telecast for all Monday Night Football games.
In a deal inked in March 2021, ESPN continued to be the exclusive service provider of all Monday Night Football games until 2033, at a deal valued at over $2.6 billion per year. This 12-year exclusivity deal comes out to over $31.2 billion owed to the NFL by Disney, the parent company of the formidable sports giant ESPN.
However, in an effort by the National Football League to expand access to additional audiences, ESPN has shared three Monday Night Football games per season with ABC. This means that three out of 17 Monday Night Football games will air on both ESPN and ABC simultaneously.
In addition, ESPN has begun to air “Manningcast” during the 2021 NFL season. Fully titled Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, it is an alternative live television broadcast of Monday Night Football hosted by former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning.
Produced by Peyton Manning’s production company Omaha Productions, the broadcast airs on both ESPN2 and ESPN+ and features the Monday Night Football game with hosts Peyton and Eli providing live commentary and hosting insights as the game plays out.
Similarly, all Monday Night Football games can also be viewed on ESPN Deportes. ESPN Deportes is ESPN’s Spanish-language television sports channel, which caters to the Hispanic community in the United States.
How to Watch Monday Night Football Games?
Unfortunately, as ESPN is the exclusive partner with the NFL to broadcast the Monday night games, a subscription to ESPN is required to watch the games. However, if you do have a subscription to ESPN, typically via your local cable provider, there are a number of ways to watch the Monday night game.
Firstly, and perhaps the most popular means to watch Monday Night Football, is to tune in via your tv set. Simply tune to ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN Deportes at the scheduled start of the game to view the game live.
The second best way to view a Monday Night Football game is to download the ESPN app to your device. The ESPN app is available for most major brands and operating systems, including Apple’s iOS devices and Android devices via the Google Play Store.
You can download the ESPN app to your smartphone or tablet and, once signed in with your cable tv provider, watch the Monday Night Football game from the convenience of your device.
Similarly, if you’d prefer to watch the Monday Night Football game on your desktop or laptop computer, simply head over to ESPN or ESPN Deportes. The game will typically be featured front-and-center on the website and will provide you with an option to login with your tv provider to watch the game.
Lastly, if you would rather connect to ESPN via a connected tv device, such as an Apple TV, a Roku device, or an Amazon Fire Stick, simply download the associated ESPN app on the device and login with your tv provider to watch the game.
However, three games during the NFL season will be broadcast on both ESPN and ABC simultaneously. Therefore, for these three games, you can watch the Monday Night Football game on either ESPN with a paid subscription or without a cable tv subscription on ABC.
Can You Watch Monday Night Football for Free?
Unfortunately, there are currently no reliable and stable ways to watch the Monday Night Football games without a cable subscription and a subscription to ESPN. The reason for this is due to the costs associated with hosting and broadcasting the Monday night games.
In addition to the yearly cost of $2.6 billion paid by ESPN to the NFL for exclusive rights to broadcast the Monday night games, the onus is on ESPN to setup and relay the games live to millions of viewers across the world. These production costs are not cheap and ESPN must be able to recoup the cost of their investment.
Are There Commercials During Monday Night Football?
As with the above, with the onus on ESPN to setup and relay the games live to millions of viewers across the world and the $2.6 billion check made to the NFL, ESPN must be able to recoup their initial investment cost.
And similar to the NBA, the best way to do so is to show ads to the viewing audience. And while ads can be annoying, they provide broadcast companies with a means to continue to produce content and live production in a profitable and sustaining manner.
What is the Monday Night Football Schedule for the 2022 Season?
Be aware, that the NFL schedule is not released until months before the start of the new season. As such, we are not able to share the Monday Night Football schedule for seasons past the upcoming 2022-23 NFL season.
However, you can find the upcoming Monday Night Football schedule for the 2022-23 season below.
| NFL Week | Date | Time | Game | Where to Watch |
| 1 | 9/12/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Denver Broncos vs. Seattle Seahawks | ESPN and ABC |
| 2 | 9/19/2022 | 7:30 PM EST | Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills | ESPN |
| 2 | 9/19/2022 | 8:30 PM EST | Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles | ABC |
| 3 | 9/26/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants | ESPN and ABC |
| 4 | 10/03/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers | ESPN |
| 5 | 10/10/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs | ESPN |
| 6 | 10/17/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Denver Broncos vs. San Diego Chargers | ESPN |
| 7 | 10/24/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots | ESPN |
| 8 | 10/31/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns | ESPN |
| 9 | 11/06/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Baltimore Ravens vs. New Orleans Saints | ESPN |
| 10 | 11/14/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Washington Commaners vs. Philadelphia Eagles | ESPN |
| 11 | 11/21/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals | ESPN |
| 12 | 11/28/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts | ESPN |
| 13 | 12/05/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers | ESPN |
| 14 | 12/12/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | New England Patriots vs. Arizona Cardinals | ESPN |
| 15 | 12/19/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | Los Angeles Rams vs. Green Bay Packers | ESPN and ABC |
| 16 | 12/26/2022 | 8:15 PM EST | San Diego Chargers vs. Indianapolis Colts | ESPN |
| 17 | 01/02/2023 | 8:15 PM EST | Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals | ESPN and ABC |
How to Subscribe to ESPN
In the case that you currently do not have a subscription to ESPN, or are simply looking to add ESPN to your cable package, there are a few ways to go about doing so.
Firstly, if you currently have a cable plan with a local cable provider, simply log into the online portal or give your cable provider a call and request to add ESPN to your cable package. Be aware though, doing so will likely add a small cost per month to your overall cable package.
Alternatively, if you do not have a cable tv provider or are looking to switch to a new one, you have a plethora of available options to do so. Many of these are online services and do not require a cable set-top box, meaning once paid for, you will have immediate access to all your cable tv shows.
You can do so with one of the following streaming services:
And while these various streaming services and packages cost different prices, you should expect to pay anywhere between $65-$85 per month for an all-access package and solution.
Is Monday Night Football on ESPN+?
With the recent influx of streaming services, ESPN, under the purview of The Disney Company, launched their own streaming service, aptly named ESPN+. Available for both iOS and Android devices, ESPN+ can be accessed via the ESPN app and on all major web browsers.
ESPN+ is marketed as an add-on to ESPN’s core linear networks, with some of ESPN+’s content previously offered exclusively to cable subscribers via ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
However, ESPN+ does not include access to these services, as they continue to only be available through television providers. Thus, some of ESPN’s sports rights are not carried on ESPN+, including Monday Night Football.
Monday Night Football is not on ESPN+
Rather, ESPN+ showcases major UFC fights, college sports, hockey, rugby, and soccer games. In addition, ESPN+ has recently begun dabbling in sports documentaries, including The Last Dance, an intimate expose of Michael Jordan’s time in the NBA, and the Man in the Arena, which follows Tom Brady’s time in the NFL.
Conclusion – Is Monday Night Football on Regular TV
- Monday Night Football is one of the most popular live sports broadcasts on tv
- It is exclusively available on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes
- However, three games per NFL season are also broadcast on ABC
- ESPN, via their parent network of Disney, pays the NFL $2.6 billion per season for exclusive rights to the Monday Night Football games
- You can access the Monday Night Football games via ESPN on your tv, smartphone, tablet, desktop or laptop computer, and connected smart tv devices