| NFL on ESPN | |
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| Also known as |
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| Genre | American football game telecasts |
| Presented by | |
| Opening theme |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
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| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180–210 minutes or until game ends |
| Production company | ESPN |
| Original release | |
| Network | ESPN |
| Release | November 8, 1987 (1987-11-08) – present |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | January 9, 2016 (2016-01-09) – present |
| Related | |
NFL on ESPN is anAmerican television sports presentation show broadcast byESPN. National television broadcasts of theNational Football League (NFL) first aired onESPN in1980, when the network broadcast the1980 NFL draft. ESPN did not air live NFL games until1987, when it acquired the rights toSunday Night Football. In2006, ESPN lost the rights toSunday Night Football and began airingMonday Night Football (MNF) instead. Under its current broadcasting deals lasting through 2033, ESPN has live coverage ofMNF, sister broadcast networkABC airs selected exclusive or simulcastMNF games, andESPN+ streams one exclusive game. ESPN/ABC also has a Saturday doubleheader during the last week of the regular season, thePro Bowl games, theNFL draft, one Wild Card round playoff game, one Divisional round playoff game, and theSuper Bowl in 2027 and 2031. Studio programming includesMonday Night Countdown,Sunday NFL Countdown,NFL Live,NFL Primetime,NFL Matchup,Monday Blitz, andFantasy Football Now.[1]
FormerNFL commissionerPaul Tagliabue credits ESPN with raising the "profile" of the league, by turning "a potential six- or seven-hour television experience into a twelve-hour television experience," factoring in both the network's pregame showSunday NFL Countdown andSunday Night Football.
In 1979, several months after the founding of ESPN, thenESPN PresidentChet Simmons asked the NFL if ESPN could air theNFL draft. NFL commissionerPete Rozelle, despite questions about viewership potential, granted ESPN the rights.[2] The first draft ESPN aired was in1980.Bob Ley hosted the initial coverage fromBristol, Connecticut.Howard Balzer,Upton Bell andVince Papale joined Ley as studio analysts whileJoe Thomas and four reporters were on site at the NFL Draft inNew York City. Despite ESPN only reaching 4 million homes at the time, the NFL considered the initial NFL Draft broadcast a success and ESPN has aired the NFL Draft every year since.[3] In1988, the NFL moved the draft from weekdays to the weekend and ESPN's ratings of the coverage improved dramatically.[4]
As part of its new television package in 1987, the NFL granted ESPN the rights to air a series of Sunday night games, which were to air over the second half of the regular season. The NFL thus became the last major North American professional sports league to begin airing its games oncable television.[5] However, the games were typicallysimulcast on regularover-the-air television stations in each participating team's local market, so that households without cable television could still see the telecasts of their local team. WhileABC had been airing occasional Sunday night NFL games (usually one per season) under itsMonday Night Football banner since1978, the concept of playing a regular series of Sunday night professional football games on ESPN was originally a concept designed for theUnited States Football League (USFL). As part of the abortive1986 USFL season,ESPN was to carry a weekly Sunday night game throughout the fall season.[6]
As part of the league's television contract renewal with ABC in 1989, ABC was awarded the television rights toSuper Bowl XXV andSuper Bowl XXIX, and the first round of NFL playoffs. TheMonday Night Football announcing team anchored the telecasts, except for the first of two Wild Card Playoff games, in whichESPN's Sunday Night NFL crew ofMike Patrick andJoe Theismann presided over that telecast. However, the original crew for one of the two Wild Card Playoff games from1990 to1995 consisted ofBrent Musburger andDick Vermeil (both of whom didcollege football broadcasts for ABC during those two seasons).
FollowingThe Walt Disney Company's purchase of both ESPN and ABC in 1996, the two networks' sports departments merged in 1997. Beginning with the1997 season, theESPN Sunday Night Football crew called the firstMonday Night Football game of the season on ABC, with theABC Monday Night Football crew calling the second game. ESPN provided wraparound studio programming, with part of the pre and postgame airing on ABC, and ESPN'sRon Jaworski often appeared from the studio for extra analysis during the first game. This arrangement lasted from 1997 through2005, except for2002 when ESPN and ABC's college football crew did the early game. Super Bowls on ABC in this period were treated as ESPN events.
In2003, ABC and the NFL dropped theMonday Night Football game for the final week of the regular season. The move, which had been in effect for the first eight years of the broadcast (1970–1977), was the result of declining ratings, as well as problems involved for potential playoff teams, as there was a potential of only four days rest between their final regular season game and first-round playoff game. ABC replaced the telecast with an opening weekend Thursday night game, and in exchange ESPN got a Saturday night game on the final weekend.
After the2005 season, ESPN ended this package in favor of picking up the broadcast rights toMonday Night Football from ABC.NBC picked up the rights to ESPN's Sunday night games. To replaceSunday Night Football ESPN moved its late-seasonSunday Night Baseball broadcasts back to the network and replaced most of the rest of the open weeks with other sports telecasts.
As part of their 2011 rights agreement, ESPN was given the exclusive rights to the Pro Bowl from2015 through 2022.[7] Since2018, the game has been simulcast on ABC.
On April 22, 2014, the NFL announced that it had exercised an option in ESPN's recent contract extension forMonday Night Football rights to air a first-round Wild Cardplayoff game on the channel after the conclusion of the2014 season. This was the first (and only) time that an NFL playoff game was ever broadcast exclusively on cable television in the United States, in lieu of any of the league's broadcast network partners.[7][8][9] TheMNF broadcast team ofMike Tirico,Jon Gruden and sideline reporterLisa Salters called the game, the first of the2014–15 NFL playoffs. The NFC South ChampionCarolina Panthers defeated theArizona Cardinals 27–16.[7][8] As with allMNF games, the matchup was simulcast on local affiliatesWJZY (aFox affiliate) in Charlotte andKASW (aCW affiliate) in Phoenix. This was because of the NFL's rule that requires local affiliates to allow viewers over-the-air access to the game. However, the cable-only playoff game experiment would only last one season, as on May 11, 2015, it was announced that ABC would simulcast ESPN's Wild Card playoff game beginning in the2015 season.[10] This was the first NFL game broadcast nationally on ABC sinceMNF left the network at the end of the 2005 season. The game, announced by the broadcast team of Tirico, Gruden and Salters, was the first of the2015–16 NFL playoffs. TheKansas City Chiefs defeated theHouston Texans 30–0. The ESPN/ABC simulcast has continued ever since.[11][12]
Since2018,ABC has simulcast ESPN's coverage of the final day of theNFL draft. Beginning the following year (2019) and every year since, ABC has also air aCollege GameDay branded version of the Draft on the first two days, separate from ESPN's coverage, replacingFox which aired this coverage in 2018.[13]
On March 18, 2021, the NFL announced that ESPN had renewed its rights toMonday Night Football. Under the new deal, ESPN will gain a Saturday doubleheader on the final weekend of the season beginning in 2021 (which will be simulcast by ABC), As a result of this change ESPN will no longer air an NFL Doubleheader on NFL Kickoff Weekend. And beginning in 2022, it will gain two additional regular season games (with one airing on ABC as Monday split doubleheaders and one game exclusive to ESPN+ either as a Sunday MorningNFL International Series game or another Monday split Doubleheader). Beginning in2023, it will add two additional regular season games (with two more Monday split doubleheaders airings on ABC, totaling to three per season)flex scheduling beginning in Week 12, the ability to feature up to four teams twice per-season, as well as produce many alternate broadcast feeds of select games, under their Megacast series. All ABC televisedMNF games will stream on ESPN+, and ESPN will also gain rights to a divisional playoff game, and two future Super Bowls for them and ABC.[1][14]
In January 2024 it was reported that the league were in advanced stages of discussion withThe Walt Disney Company to acquire a stake of ESPN in exchange for NFL media (which includesNFL Network andNFL RedZone) coming under control of The Walt Disney Company. If enacted the acquisition will have to approved by a majority of NFL owners to be enforced.[15]
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