With some brand new graphics featuring Howard Cosell and a blazing tribute to Frank Gifford, ESPN’s Monday Night Football took the field for the 2015-16 season last night. And it was a mixed result with Game 1 steady with 2014 and Game 2 surging over last year.
With a great showing by Julio Jones, the 7 – 10:15 PM ET first game on Monday saw the Atlanta Falcons beat the Philadelphia Eagles 26-24 at home. Nice and close despite an underdog rally, which is what any broadcaster wants to keep the viewers watching,, the match-up drew a 9.8 in metered-market results. That’s a 6% rise from the slumping 9.2 result of the Detroit Lions’ defeat of the New York Giants in the opening game of last year’s MNF doubleheader on September 8, 2014. Last night’s game peaked in the 10 – 10:15 time period with a 13.9 MM rating.
Still, the Falcons vs. Eagles game was down 16% from the 2013 record-breaking MNF opener, which pulled an 11.6 rating in metered-markets for the Disney-owned cabler. That game two years ago saw the Eagles take on the Washington Redskins in what ended up becoming the most watched MNF opener since ESPN took the franchise in 2006 – with an audience of 16.52 million.
The second game of last night was a real blowout with the San Francisco 49ers demolishing the Minnesota Vikings 20-3. Breaking the ratings rules, that game, which started at 10:15 PM ET, got 9.5 in MM results. That’s way up 27% from the 7.8 rating the Arizona Cardinals tight 18-17 win over the San Diego Chargers had in 2014’s MNF opener’s second game. Last night’s Game 2 peaked right at the start with a 12.5 rating in the 10:15 to 10:30 slot.
