Is ESPN’s ‘MNF’ Doubleheader Strategy Hurting Viewership?

Week 4 of the NFL regular season concludes with a second consecutive doubleheader, as ESPN’s biggest Monday Night Football season keeps pushing new boundaries, even if fans aren’t thrilled.

The Titans (0–3) visit the Dolphins (1–2) at 7:30 p.m. (all times ET) on ESPN, kicking off 45 minutes before ABC gets a much more desirable NFC matchup at 8:15 p.m.: the Seahawks (3–0) at the Lions (2–1). Last week, many NFL fans on social media voiced their criticism of the overlapping games, as the Bills beat the Jaguars 47–10 after a 7:30 pm. kickoff on ESPN, closely followed by the Commanders knocking off the favored Bengals 38–33, which started at 8:15 p.m. on ABC.

ESPN is paying the NFL an average of $2.7 billion per year under the league’s current $110 billion media-rights deals. For that steep price, there are a record 21 MNF games thanks to the continued increase in doubleheaders: four this year, up from three last season, and just one in 2022. 

On Oct. 21 in Week 7, the Ravens visit the Buccaneers for a standard 8:15 p.m. Monday night kickoff on ESPN, while Chargers at Cardinals begins at 8:45 p.m., and is an exclusive ESPN+ stream (another part of the NFL’s record streaming push). On Dec. 16 in Week 15, ABC has Bears-Vikings at 8 p.m., and ESPN has Falcons-Raiders at 8:30 p.m.

By the Numbers

More people are watching the NFL than at any point since 2015, so more Monday night games should only be a good thing for the league’s viewership, right?

Well, it’s complicated.

When  MNF doubleheaders take place, neither game draws as large an audience as it would on its own. So, ESPN touts the total average viewership in the roughly two-hour window when the games with staggered starts overlap.

Last week, that overlap figure was more than 19 million viewers. On its own, the more exciting Commanders-Bengals game averaged 13.2 million viewers on ABC, and Bills-Jaguars averaged 6.4 million on ESPN.

In 2023, two early-season MNF doubleheaders averaged 21.83 million viewers during their two-hour overlaps. Week 2 featured Saints-Panthers and Steelers-Browns, while Week 3 had Eagles-Buccaneers and Bengals-Rams. The 2023 MNF season average was 17.4 million viewers.

There was a twist in Week 14 last year when Packers-Giants and Titans-Dolphins both kicked off at 8:15 p.m. and collectively averaged 19.8 million viewers on ESPN platforms. That was the only doubleheader to have a ManningCast, which will appear only during the Week 7 doubleheader this season.