Monday Night Football’s first broadcast of 2022 was a smashing success. ESPN saw the most viewers tune in for a Monday Night Football game since 2009.
ESPN reported that 19,845,000 viewers tuned in for the season debut across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes. That mark distinguished itself as the third-best Monday game in the current MNF era (since 2006) which accounts for over 270 games.
The debut of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth was ESPN’s most-watched Week 1 game since it began airing Monday Night Football (32 games). It was up 16% from last year’s Week 1 audience.
The ManningCast, officially billed as Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, drew 1,502,000 viewers on ESPN2 and ESPN+, an increase of 86% from their season debut in 2021 (805,000 viewers). It now accounts for all 10 of ESPN’s 10 most-watched alternate telecasts (more than 80 since 2014).
