ESPN has announced a huge change to it’s NFL coverage after coming to an agreement with the league.
The network will simulcast six more NFL games on the main free-to-air ABC channel.
ESPN’s lead Monday Night Football duo of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will be heard on ABC more this year[/caption]
Ex-Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce has proved to be a popular addition to the team[/caption]
Fans will be able to watch the Monday Night Football games for free rather than have to pay for an ESPN subscription.
The agreement will kick in for the Week 6 clash between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford in New Jersey.
And five more games after that which were scheduled to be on ESPN only will now also be on ABC as well.
ABC only had eight scheduled NFL broadcasts coming into the season.
But the agreement with the league means they will air 17 games in total – with three of them exclusive.
There are now only two Mondays remaining this season where games will only be available on ESPN.
ESPN also has a streaming only game in Week 7 in an experiment.
The Arizona Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday, 21 October.
That game will kickoff at a later time of 9 pm ET and only be available on ESPN+.
That means there is no linear TV coverage and fans can only watch by streaming.
ESPN and ABC will be showing the Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers that night.
The Bucs’ clash with the Kansas City Chiefs on November 4 as well as the Houston Texans vs Dallas Cowboys on November 18 were also made available on ABC.
And the other two games moved to ESPN and ABC simulcasts are the Baltimore Ravens at the Los Angeles Chargers on November 25 and the New Orleans Saints at the Green Bay Packers on December 23.
ESPN and the NFL is looking to capitalize on last year’s viewership – which averaged 17.36 million viewers on MNF.
This year they have brought back to double headers with two games kicking off at almost similar times on different channels.
ABC showed Monday night clashes all 18 weeks last year after an agreement with the league.
Both ABC and ESPN are owned by the Walt Disney Company.
And due to the Hollywood writer strike – there was no new original content on television last fall.
ESPN also recently agreed to end the DirecTV blackout dispute.
Angry customers missed college football games, the NFL MNF season opener and parts of the US Open.
