ESPN already had plenty to celebrate in week 1 of the 2021 NFL season. The Manningcast got off to a strong start, and the traditional Monday Night Football broadcast scored 15.3 million viewers across ESPN and ABC.
Apparently, there was an error in the way Nielsen counted the ABC audience. ESPN has even more to celebrate than it thought. The Raiders’ victory over the Ravens in Week 1 was actually seen by nearly 17 million viewers.
The new numbers mean that the Raiders and Ravens played in the most-watched Monday Night Football season opener since the franchise moved to ESPN in 2006. It also becomes the most-watched Monday game since 2016.
The new NFL season has been good to ESPN. Monday Night Football is experiencing the same ratings rebound the rest of the league is. With the numbers adjusted for Week 1, ESPN is averaging 14.7 million viewers each week.
