ESPN kicks off the 50th anniversary season of Monday Night Football (15th season on ESPN) with an opening week doubleheader on Sept. 14.
The leading college football broadcasting team of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporter Maria Taylor will call the Pittsburgh Steelers-New York Giants game at 7 p.m. ET.
Then, at 10:15 p.m. ET, the new MNF booth of Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick will call the Tennessee Titans-Denver Broncos game with sideline reporter and nine-year MNF veteran Lisa Salters and officiating analyst John Parry.
Additionally, ESPN’s MNF Spanish-language commentator team, Pablo Viruega and Eduardo Varela, will call games on ESPN Deportes, beginning with Steelers-Giants. Ciro Procuna, Ramiro Pruneda and John Sutcliffe will call Titans-Broncos.
MORE FOOTBALL ON MONDAYS
SportsCenter (12-3 p.m. ET) with Hannah Storm and Jay Harris will feature NFL news and analysis.
NFL Rewind (3-4 p.m. ET) will offer highlights and analysis of Sunday’s NFL games. New host Wendi Nix, who recently signed an extension, will be joined by NFL analysts Jeff Saturday and Marcus Spears and Senior NFL Insider Chris Mortensen.
NFL Live (4-5 p.m. ET), with the new commentator team of host Laura Rutledge and NFL analysts Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Keyshawn Johnson and Mina Kimes, will provide NFL news, information and analysis each weekday.
Monday Night Countdown (6-8 p.m. ET*), hosted by Suzy Kolber, welcomes two-time Super Bowl champion Booger McFarland to the MNF pregame show. McFarland will join Kolber, Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss and Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter at the Seaport District Studio in New York, while Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl MVP Steve Young will primarily contribute to the show from MNF game sites. Michelle Beisner-Buck will also return as an NFL features reporter.
*On Sept. 14, Monday Night Countdown will be live at 5 p.m. ET leading into the MNF doubleheader.
NFL Esta Noche (7:30 p.m. ET**) will precede presentations of MNF on ESPN Deportes.
**On Sept. 14, NFL Esta Noche will be live at 6:30 p.m. ET leading into the MNF doubleheader.
Broadcasting legend Chris Berman will return to MNF halftimes, sponsored by USAA, to deliver “The Fastest Three Minutes” of NFL highlights. Additionally, Berman will continue to join weekly editions of Monday Night Countdown, this season for “Boomer’s Vault: Sunday’s Best”.
SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt will feature post-game coverage from MNF analysts Brian Griese and Louis Riddick and NFL analyst Ryan Clark.
SURROUNDING SUNDAY’S GAMES
NFL Matchup on ESPN (4 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. ET): Sal Paolantonio, who recently celebrated his 25th anniversary with ESPN, will again host this x’s and o’s show with analysts Greg Cosell and Matt Bowen. NFL Matchup debuts on Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown (10 a.m. ET) returns with fourth-year host Sam Ponder, three-time Super Bowl champion Tedy Bruschi, 18-year NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss, former NFL head coach Rex Ryan, and Senior NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter.
Ponder and team will appear live from the Seaport District Studio in New York, while reporters Jeff Darlington (Tampa Bay at New Orleans), Dan Graziano (Miami at New England), Kimberley A. Martin (Cleveland at Baltimore), Sal Paolantonio (Philadelphia at Washington), Dianna Russini (Green Bay at Minnesota) and Ed Werder (Dallas at Los Angeles Rams) will contribute to the pregame show from NFL stadiums.
ESPN2’s Fantasy Football Now (10 a.m. ET) debuts with new host Field Yates, senior fantasy sports analyst Matthew Berry and senior writer and injury analyst Stephania Bell in studio, with contributions from writer and analyst Mike Clay (from his home studio) and NFL analyst Damien Woody. The award-winning show is packed with insights from ESPN Fantasy analysts and includes the latest injury reports, live updates from ESPN reporters at NFL stadiums, and answers to fan questions. More on ESPN Fantasy Football.
ESPN+ NFL PrimeTime (7:30 p.m. ET), the beloved NFL highlights show hosted by Chris Berman, returns for a 21st season – 19 on ESPN and heading into the second year on ESPN+. Berman will be joined by NFL analyst Booger McFarland. Each week’s show streams live on Sunday night and is accessible on demand through late Wednesday night.
SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt will conclude the day with coverage from NFL analyst Tim Hasselbeck.
SERVING NFL FANS ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
ESPN NFL programming is available to stream live on the ESPN App. Fans with an affiliated pay TV subscription can access content on mobile and connected streaming devices.
ESPN.com’s NFL coverage starts with an industry-leading group of 32 NFL Nation team reporters providing a 365/24/7 stream of news, analysis, game coverage, predictions, interviews, fantasy insight, as well as live TV reports, photos, videos and social elements surrounding each NFL club, and is backed by the best national news breakers and analysts in the industry. ESPN.com also features Power Rankings (every Tuesday), weekly news bylines from Senior NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter, weekly deep-dive features from Dave Fleming, Hallie Grossman, Elizabeth Merrill, Ian O’Connor, Kevin Van Valkenberg, Tim Keown and Seth Wickersham, weekly roundtables with analysts Matt Bowen, Dan Graziano, Jeremy Fowler, Mina Kimes, Kevin Seifert and Field Yates, officiating insight from Seifert and NFL officiating analyst John Parry; NFL analytics analysis from Brian Burke, Seth Walder, Bill Barnwell and more, and Big Boards and Top 32 rankings from the premier NFL Draft tandem, Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay.
ESPN+, the home of NFL PrimeTime, The Fantasy Show with Matthew Berry, Peyton’s Places, Detail: From the Mind of Peyton Manning, and an NFL Archive of more than 600 hours of content from NFL Films, also features premium content on ESPN.com from Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Jeremy Fowler, Field Yates, and more who take fans inside the minds and playbooks of decision-makers throughout the league.
ESPN Radio’s national talk lineup provides continuous daily coverage of the NFL – news, analysis and opinion. Reporters and analysts from around the country join some of the biggest names in the game, offering listeners league-wide compelling football content. Additionally, ESPN Radio will continue to broadcast Sunday afternoon NFL games throughout the season, starting with: Green Bay-Minnesota (Sept. 13), San Francisco-New York Jets (Sept. 20) and Houston-Pittsburgh (Sept. 27). All game broadcasts begin at noon ET.
NFL Podcasts from ESPN Audio include Fantasy Focus Football – hosted by Matthew Berry, Field Yates and Stephania Bell with contributions from Mike Clay and producer Daniel Dopp, The Adam Schefter Podcast, The Bill Barnwell Show, and The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny, part of the LeBatard and Friends podcast network.
The Undefeated covers the intersections of sports, race and culture in the NFL, including the league’s social justice efforts in the wake of worldwide protests against police brutality and racial inequality; the ongoing diversity issues among top decision-makers at the team level; and the new era of the Black QB.
ESPN Fantasy Football, the No. 1 most popular fantasy football game, is available on ESPN.com and the ESPN Fantasy App on iOS and Android devices. ESPN Fantasy Football offers exclusive content for ESPN+ subscribers and the fantasy sports industry’s most comprehensive collection of expert analysis, news, statistical data and tools across app, web, television and audio.
The ESPN social team covers the NFL across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok, engaging fans with highlights and news, while also covering the intersection of culture and the NFL.
ESPN and its affiliated networks distribute the NFL in more than 78 million homes in 134 countries/territories across Spanish-Speaking Latin America, Brazil, Pac Rim, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Netherlands, China and Canada (via TSN and RDS).
READY FOR FOOTBALL; WHAT TO CHECK OUT BEFORE TONIGHT’S GAME:
ESPN and agency Arts & Letters Creative Co. debuted a new ‘Ready for Football’ creative featuring ESPN commentators, characters from the Disney universe, NFL fans, coaches and players, and Grammy Award-winning producer DJ Khaled.
The latest ESPN Cover Story featuring Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson debuted yesterday across the network’s digital, linear and social platforms. Reporter Tim Keown spoke with Watson about his complicated decision to speak up.
