ESPN's "Monday Night Football" Schedule Features Multiple Appearances by the Super Bowl Champion Eagles, the AFC Champion Chiefs, Cowboys and Lions as NFL on ESPN 25-Game Slate Starts Fast with 11 Games in First Seven Weeks
Signature Matchups: Vikings at Bears, Lions at Ravens, Chiefs at Jaguars, Commanders at Chiefs, Eagles at Packers, Cardinals at Cowboys, Cowboys at Raiders and Eagles at Chargers
Four Weeks of Multiple Monday Night Football Games Including the Return of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET Doubleheader
ESPN and ABC Exclusive Games, ABC Simulcasts, an ESPN+ Exclusive Game and Spanish-Language Telecasts Highlight Distribution Offerings with Every Game Available on ESPN DTC
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters Return for Fourth Year Together
The ManningCast Enters Fifth Season
ESPN's Monday Night Football begins with 11 games in the first seven weeks of the NFL season, including the Lions at the Ravens in an NFC-AFC showdown, as ESPN records the most primetime games of any NFL rights holder to begin the year, jumpstarting the 25-game NFL on ESPN 2025-26 schedule.
Continuing the early season momentum, Monday Night Football will enter a four-week stretch featuring the AFC Champion Chiefs (Week 8), the Cowboys multiple times (Weeks 9 and 11), and the Super Bowl Champion Eagles at the Packers (Week 10). The Eagles return to MNF in December (Week 14), as the iconic primetime television franchise gives way to ESPN's Saturday Doubleheader (Week 18), Monday Night Wild Card game (January 12) and a Divisional round playoff game (January 17 or 18).
Monday Night Football's season-long campaign begins with a NFC North rivalry, as the Vikings travel to the Bears, the first of multiple divisional games this season on MNF. The regular season will close with iconic brands taking the field, including the 49ers, Patriots, Giants, Steelers and Dolphins. Overall, the entire Monday Night Football slate includes the league's top teams, star players, and intriguing storylines throughout the season. Highlights:
Multiple High-Profile Debuts in Week 1: As the Vikings and Bears take the field, Minnesota quarterback J. McCarthy will make his NFL debut, while Bears head coach Ben Johnson makes his debut at the helm of the team.
Exceptional Quarterbacks Across MNF: Each of the previous three NFL MVPs appear on Monday Night Football (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes). The two most recent Offensive Rookie of the Year winners, Jayden Daniels and CJ Stroud, Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, and Comeback Player of the Year Joe Burrow will all play on Monday Night Football.
MNF will feature ESPN exclusive games, ABC simulcasts (with an additional week to be announced), and four weeks where multiple games are played on the same night, with ABC (two occurrences) and ESPN+ (one occurrence) airing an exclusive game in conjunction with an ESPN exclusive game in three of those cases. As part of those four weeks, returning this year in Weeks 2 and 7, a traditional Monday Night Football doubleheader will occur, with the first game beginning at 7 p.m. and the second one kicking off at 10 p.m. ET. All 25 games will stream on the newly announced ESPN direct-to-consumer service.
A Spanish-language telecast will be available for each game, with most on ESPN Deportes. Additionally, select games will be simulcast on ESPN+.
Monday Night Football's Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters Set to Call Fourth Season Together
Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters return for their fourth season of MNF. For Buck and Aikman, the duo will team up for a 24th season overall, extending their record as the longest broadcast pairing in NFL history. Salters enters her 14th season on the sidelines of MNF, continuing as the longest-tenured sideline reporter in MNF history.
Peyton and Eli Return for Fifth Season
Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli is back for its fifth season, with 12 games which will begin in Week 1. The remaining schedule will be announced before the start of the season.
Monday Night Football Schedule Highlights
The Chiefs will appear twice on the schedule, hosting the NFC runner-up Commanders (Week 8) and, earlier in the season, will be on the road for second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter's first nationally televised NFL game when the Chiefs travel to Jacksonville (Week 5). The Lions at Ravens (Week 3) is one of the season's first marquee games and features a Super Bowl contender from each conference. Eagles vs. Packers from historic Lambeau Field (Week 10) is a rematch of last season's Wild Card game and was announced on Good Morning America earlier this week.
Following the second Chiefs appearance on MNF, the Cowboys will host the Cardinals (Week 9) before taking on the Raiders two weeks later (Week 11), as two of the NFL's most storied franchises go head-to-head. Additional Highlights:
Top Rookies Take the Field: Seven of the top ten picks of the 2025 NFL Draft will make their MNF debuts this season highlighted by Travis Hunter (Jaguars), Abdul Carter (Giants) and Ashton Jeanty (Raiders).
Prominent Brands Close Out Schedule: In the season's final weeks, the 49ers appear multiple times (Week 12 vs. Panthers and Week 16 at Colts), while the Giants and Patriots (Week 13), as well as the Dolphins and Steelers go head-to-head (Week 15).
Overlapping Action: In Week 4, the Jets and Dolphins will begin at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN, with the Bengals and Broncos at 8:15 p.m. on ABC. In Week 6, the Bills and Falcons begin the night at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN with the Bears and Commanders at 8:15 p.m. on ABC.
Champs Head West: The Eagles travels to Los Angeles in Week 14, as the Chargers host the Super Bowl Champions.
Falcons Host MNF: The Falcons will host multiple MNF games, vs. the Bills (Week 6) and vs. the Rams (Week 17). Both will be their first MNF home game since 2015.
Note: Flex scheduling can be utilized for MNF beginning in Week 12 and continuing through Week 17.
|