|
Buccaneers at Texans Delivers 17.4 Million Viewers, ESPN's Most-Watched "MNF" Week 2 Game Since 2008
ESPN's MNF Week 2 Doubleheader Averaged 13.5 Million Viewers, Network's Best Two-Game Average in a Single Night Since 2015
ESPN's Monday Night Football Week 2 marked the return of the true MNF doubleheader, featuring Tampa Bay at Houston (7 p.m. ET), followed by Los Angeles Chargers at Las Vegas (10 p.m.).
An audience of 17.4 million (ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and NFL+) watched the Buccaneers and Texans, ESPN's most-watched MNF Week 2 game since 2008, and up 16% from ESPN's single MNF Week 2 game last season (Falcons at Eagles). Additionally, the Buccaneers-Texans is ESPN's most-watched individual game on weeks with multiple MNF games, whether a true doubleheader or two games with staggered start times.
Please note: ESPN has aired multiple MNF games in 24 weeks since 2006, with 16 doubleheaders from 2006 through 2020 and 2025, and eight weeks of multiple games with staggered start times from 2022 to 2024.
Accounting for both games (7 p.m. to 1 a.m.), ESPN averaged 13.5 million viewers for the doubleheader, its best audience across two games in a single night since 2015, notably surpassing the eight weeks of '2 games, 1 night' under the current NFL rights agreement (2022 - present) and previous Week 1 doubleheaders.
Individually, Chargers-Raiders averaged 9.7 million viewers (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and NFL+), also the best individual audience for the ESPN-primary telecast in the same '2 games, 1 night' era (8 games).
|
