Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football has been a fixture of the National Football League for over 40 seasons and running. Monday night games originally aired on ABC but moved to ESPN in 2006. Broadcaster Mike Tirico handles play-by-play while Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden provide commentary.

The 2010 Monday Night Football season opens on September 13, 2010, with two games on ESPN. The New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens fight it out in the brand new Meadowlands stadium at 7:00 p.m. EST while the San Diego Chargers visit the Kansas City Chiefs for the second game at 10:15 p.m. EST. The 2010 Monday Night Football scheduled wraps up during week 16 as the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings battle for the NFL North on Monday, December 20, 2010.

The first time the NFL experimented with prime time football was in 1966 when CBS broadcast a game between Chicago and St. Louis. During each of the next few seasons, both CBS and NBC would carry one Monday night game. In 1970, as part of the negotiation for new television rights following the league's merger with the American Football League, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle negotiated a full schedule of games on the fledgling ABC network.

Sensing an opportunity to have the telecast be more entertainment-filled than just the game, television pioneer Roone Arledge made bold moves to enhance the telecasts. He incorporated heavy use of instant replay and in-game graphics, and most importantly hired a third man for the broadcast booth. And not just any third man, but controversial New York sportscaster Howard Cosell. Along with former Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith and former Giants running back Frank Gifford (who joined in the 2nd season), the trio helped launch the show to unparalleled ratings success. In most weeks in those early years, ABC would net almost 50% of the television audience on Monday nights.

As the years went by, even the replacement of Meredith by several commentators, then his return, and the eventual departure of Cosell in 1983, didn't slow down the popularity of the Monday night broadcasts. Al Michaels eventually took over play-by-play description duties, and Dan Dierdorf was added as an analyst. The games raged on and continued to be a ratings hit for ABC.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, revenues began to sag (despite continued good ratings) and ABC tried different things, even hiring comedian Dennis Miller to serve as a 'Cosellian' influence in the booth. The network then hired the game's best analyst, John Madden, away from FOX Sports. But after several racy promotional attempts ruffled the league's feathers, and on the heels of the Super Bowl XXXVIII Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction," the league decided to move the Monday games onto ESPN in 2006, and in turn making the Sunday Night Football games, now airing on NBC, the premiere game of the week. While ABC is no longer the home of the weekly contests, Monday Night Football continues to thrive as an American institution.

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