NFL
The Athletic has live coverage of Packers vs. Giants and Dolphins vs. Titans on Monday Night Football.
Welcome to Phase 3 of the NFL’s “Monday Night Football” viewership experiment this season.
This one involves two games on two channels at the same time, yet under the same company umbrella. Week 14 will present the Green Bay Packers at the New York Giants on ABC and the Tennessee Titans at the Miami Dolphins on ESPN with both contests starting at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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The games were originally scheduled when the league released the 2023 slate earlier this year. But recently, ESPN announced that it’s added “Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli,” or ManningCast for the less formal crowd, to air simultaneously on ESPN2.
(All three broadcasts can be watched on ESPN+. The Titans versus Dolphins matchup can also be watched on ESPN Deportes.)
The NFL already went with two Monday night games in Week 2 (New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers) and Week 3 (Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams at Cincinnati Bengals). However, there was an hour gap between the start times for the two games each evening.
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But why is the league double-dipping when it comes to MNF? According to the league and ESPN, it’s about getting real-time data on viewer interest regarding “Monday Night Football” doubleheader start times.
“We’re going to learn more about what optimizes best, and I think by next year we’ll continue to hone on driving the biggest viewership between the two games,” ESPN president of content Burke Magnus told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch in September. “We will learn if it is better to start with the ABC game, the ESPN game, or the other way around. … In Week 14, we’re doing both games at the same time. The thought there is, can we combine total audience and do a little bit like we used to do in the old days of college football where we create a simultaneous national and regional appeal and use our networks to do that in a single window? Then it combines to sort of like a super audience total number.”
Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, called it a unique opportunity with a single broadcast partner to examine the possibilities.
“We have the unique opportunity with a single partner, with two really strong national distribution assets in ESPN and ABC, and what we want to do is continue to innovate and create a new viewing experience,” Schroeder told Deitsch in September. “So you’ll see more look-ins in between the games. You’ll see more coverage between the two games going on, you’ll see things at halftime in those first couple weeks where they go to the other game. The whole desire is, how do we create a new and different and compelling way for fans to watch games, and how do we continue to test and innovate as we do that? We’re really excited for those side-by-sides with Disney.”
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When the viewership data gets analyzed, as with all games, there will be additional factors beyond start times, including how competitive each game was, the market size for each team playing, if the game included national stars or traditional popular teams, and the estimated reach for each outlet.
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Then there’s the ManningCast wrinkle.
Peyton and Eli will watch both games simultaneously and comment on whatever happens. The show typically presents guests, but that element could be eliminated this week given they’re juggling two games.
So why throw the ManningCast into the fray? It’s a chance to extend that brand. ESPN looks at the ManningCast as additive broadcasting so any way to expose more viewers to MNF is worth exploring. The week is already unique and experimental, so it’s a fit to do.
(Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)
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Larry Holder is a Senior Writer for The Athletic, focusing on the NFL. He was a Saints beat writer from 2006 to 2013, then became a Saints/NFL columnist starting in 2013. Before joining The Athletic in 2018, he worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, CBSSports.com and the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald. Follow Larry on Twitter @LarryHolder
