The power of NFL football to draw a hefty audience was once again on display during ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” Week 5 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs (Oct. 7, 8:15 p.m. ET), which drew nearly 16 million viewers, according to newly released data.
That made it ESPN’s most-watched “MNF“ NFL game not simulcast on ABC since November 2019 (50-plus games).
The Saints-Chiefs clash was the fourth-most-watched “Monday Night Football” game not simulcast on ABC in the last 10 seasons, dating back to 2015 (2015-24), ESPN said.
The audience of 15,910,000 for Saints-Chiefs (across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes) bested the audience for the Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs game in Week 5 of 2022 (15,888,000 viewers on ESPN and ESPN Deportes). That game was also not simulcast on ABC and, prior to this week, was ESPN’s most-watched non-ABC simulcast game.
ESPN also reported that “Monday Night Football With Peyton and Eli” continues to grow its audience in 2024. The ESPN2 alternate telecast, hosted by retired star quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, delivered 1.4 million viewers. That was the show’s best audience in its last seven episodes, dating back to the 2023 Eagles-Chiefs matchup. This season, the show has increased its audience in each of its three episodes (Weeks 1, 2 and 5).
In addition, pregame show “Monday Night Countdown” (6-8 p.m.) averaged 1.2 million viewers, up 6% from its Week 5 edition in 2023, ESPN said.
