Classic Television - Prime Time

Monday Night Football

Original channel

ABC (1970-2005)

ESPN (2006-present)

Original run

September 21, 1970 – present

Commentators

List of Monday Night Football commentators

Monday Night Football (MNF) is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From 1970 to 2005 it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series ever, and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male viewers.

Monday Night Football can also be seen in Canada on TSN and RIS, and in most of Europe on ESPN America. On September 7, 2013, The NFL announced that British Eurosport would show Monday Night games live for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. In most of Australia on ESPN Australia, in Portugal on SportTV 3 and SportTV HD and on TV 2 Sport in Denmark, and in some other regions of the world outside the U.S. on ESPN International. A Spanish-language version airs on ESPN Deportes in the U.S. and on ESPN International in Latin America. The games are also made available on regular over-the-air television stations in each participating team's local market so that households without cable television can still see the telecast. Is also available in Portuguese on the ESPN Brasil.

As of October 8, 2012, the Monday Night Football franchise had aired a total of 667 games.

On September 8, 2011, the first day of the 2011 regular season, ESPN extended its contract for Monday Night Football for another eight seasons, giving it rights to the broadcasts until 2021. The new deal, valued between $14.2 billion and $15.2 billion, also gives them rights to expanded highlights, international and digital rights, and possibly a Wildcard game. Cable television operators condemned the new contract, noting that ESPN has the highest retransmission consent fees of any national cable television channel, nearly five times higher than the nearest competitor (TNT), and raises fees on an annual basis.