In another sign of the power of NFL football to draw linear TV audiences, ESPN’s Monday Night Football 2024 season opener averaged 20.5 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes) for the 49ers’ convincing 32-19 win over the Jets (September 9, 8:15 p.m. ET).
That made the audience for Monday Night Football in Week 1, the second-most-watched Week 1 matchup in ESPN’s 19 seasons of airing NFL games from 2006 to the present.
ESPN also reported that the three seasons of Monday Night Football with Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters on the mic have scored as the three most-watched Week 1 games in the ESPN era. The trio was joined this season by Laura Rutledge on site in San Francisco.
The top ranked game was the 2023 game between the Buffalo Bills at New York Jets that drew 22.7 million viewers. The third ranked matchup was the 2022 game featuring the Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks with 19.8 million.
Leading into the game, Monday Night Countdown (6-8 p.m.) averaged 1.3 million viewers, as Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce, and Marcus Spears joined Scott Van Pelt for the crew’s first on-site show together.
