this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2023
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Some context for younger Reddit posters: Monday Night Football used to be *the* biggest game of the week from the 70s through 2005 when it was on ABC. When ABC Sports merged with ESPN and MNF was placed behind cable in 2006, Sunday Night Football (which had just been acquired by NBC) became the biggest primetime game of the week, especially with Al Michaels, John Madden, Dick Ebersol, and others switching sides. Additionally, the MNF package was removed from the Super Bowl rotation.

Now, is it just me, or does it feel like Monday Night Football is (slowly) overtaking SNF on NBC to become the premier primetime game once again? MNF seems to have regained its credibility by poaching Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from FOX. They've also set several personal records for ratings this season, including a record 22.6M viewers on opening night, in large part due to each game getting simulcasted on ABC (part of an agreement to bring Disney/ABC/ESPN back into the Super Bowl rotation). Most importantly, MNF has out-drawn SNF in ratings on several occasions this season, and I'd expect this week to be no different with the Super Bowl LVII rematch. Between the matchups not being as compelling and the gravitas of Al Michaels leaving the program (no disrespect to Mike Tirico, who is an outstanding announcer), it almost feels like SNF has taken a step back. Of course, they still hold an important advantage over MNF with their ability to flex games later in the season.

So, is this considered an unpopular opinion, or do others feel the same way?

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[–] pmcg190@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

The gap has closed, definitely, in part because of the announcers but also because the NFL stubbornly opted to keep LV-NYJ and CHI-LAC in primetime when they easily could’ve been flexed out. Meanwhile, MNF has gotten exciting back-and-forth games out of CLE-PIT, DAL-LAC, SF-MIN, and DEN-BUF. The matchup quality has definitely improved on Monday nights and slipped on Sunday nights.