Ask, and you shall receive. That’s likely how it went when ESPN asked the NFL to carry Aaron Rodgers’ first home game with the New York Jets.
When the 2023 schedule came out last week, it was revealed that the season premiere of Monday Night Football would feature Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium taking on Rodgers and the Jets. So ESPN will also get Rodgers’ Jets debut in addition to his first home game with his new team.
“We did not put any parameters on our ask in terms of who the opponent was, and I was pleasantly surprised on two fronts,” ESPN president of content Burke Magnus told The Athletic. “First, we got his first game in the Jets uniform at home in Week 1. Then where I really got excited was seeing it’s an AFC East game with a really good opponent and another great quarterback in Josh Allen. The ceiling on that game is just enormous.”
Magnus added that opening weekend of the NFL season is largely important because that first game has the potential to set the bar for the season in terms of viewership.
“Week 1 is powerful,” he said. “We have potential in that window beyond most if not all of our other windows, just in terms of the fans thirsting for the new season and optimism running wild. It only takes a little bit of a storyline like Russell Wilson going back (to) Seattle and a decent game to pop a huge number. We recognize that to be a priority window for us.”
