Monday Night Football Reels In 16.5 Million Viewers

ESPN’s Monday Night Football matchup this week between the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars delivered 16.5 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and NFL+), the most-watched Week 13 MNF game since 2010 (Jets-Patriots). The audience of 16,484,000 was up 46% year-over-year (Saints-Buccaneers). Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli generated 1 million viewers on ESPN2.

Season-to-date, Monday Night Football is averaging 16.7 million viewers per game through Week 13, up 29% from the same point last season (15 games this season vs. 14 in 2022). The impressive numbers include all televised games, including Week 3 which featured two overlapping games vs. one in the 2022 season. Excluding this year’s Week 3, Monday Night Football would be up 31% year-over-year, averaging 17 million viewers a game.

Ratings have gotten a boost with Disney deciding to simulcast ESPN games on ABC for the remainder of the season, giving fans the chance to watch games without s cable or streaming subscription.

More notes:

• Audience averaged nearly 18 million viewers late in the fourth quarter through overtime (11 – 11:45 p.m.).
• Monday Night Football was the most watched telecast of the night and led across all key demos.