ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast of the Denver Broncos’ win over the Buffalo Bills earlier this week drew an average of 17.7 million viewers.
Per Front Office Sports, this was up 38% from a comparable game last season. According to the report, ESPN’s Monday Night Football coverage is averaging 15.6 million viewers. That’s up 16% from a season ago. It’s the best since the four-letter network took over the package from ABC back in 2006.
All said, NFL viewership is up 7% across the board when it comes to the league’s broadcast partners.
There are several reasons for this. First off, the broadcasting duo of Troy Aikman and Joe Buck remains one of the best in professional sports.
Secondly, we have to look at “ManningCast” as a reason for the increased viewership. While they could improve in the minds of some, Eli and Peyton Manning host an entertaining show with several high-profile guests on weekly.
Related: 2023 NFL TV ratings
ESPN’s Monday Night Football gets TV ratings boom
We also have to take into account the matchups ESPN has featured thus far this season.
Week 1 included Aaron Rodgers making his New York Jets debut against the Buffalo Bills. The game came on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Rodgers also suffered a torn Achilles’ four plays into the game, adding to increased interest from the average fan.
Week 5 included the Green Bay Packers heading to Sin City to take on the Las Vegas Raiders in a game between two big-time NFL brands. Davante Adams suiting up against his former team also played a role in increased interest.
Week 6 saw the Dallas Cowboys head to Southern California to take on the Los Angeles Chargers. America’s Team is always a draw. The following week included the San Francisco 49ers heading into Minnesota to take on the Vikings. San Francisco has typically been a ratings bonanza during primetime games. That included a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Dallas Cowboys earlier in the season.
Moving forward, there is no reason to believe that Monday Night Football will see a downtick in viewership. This coming Monday will see the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs do battle in a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl. The fact that ESPN got this game over NBC and Sunday Night Football is telling.
We’ll also see a big AFC matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars come Week 13 before a huge Christmas night matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. Then in Week 17, the Dallas Cowboys will play host to the upstart Detroit Lions. You can do the math when it comes to these games.
Monday Night Football is not the only broadcast seeing major increases thus far in the 2023 NFL season. In its second season exclusively streaming Thursday Night Football, Amazon Prime Video is averaging 12.2 million viewers. That’s up 27% from a season ago.
Meanwhile, all NFL games are averaging 17.2 million viewers. This is up 7% from the 2022 season. For comparison’s sake the 2023 MLB World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks drew an average of nine million viewers.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has helped build this league into a major brand. These numbers are just the latest example of that.