ABC Monday Night Football

An early bid by the league in 1964 to play on Friday nights was soundly defeated, with critics charging that such telecasts would damage the attendance at high school football games, and in any event had been prohibited by the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 for that very reason alongside Saturday games to protect college football . Two years later, Rozelle would build on this success as the NFL began a four-year experiment of playing on Monday night, scheduling one game in prime time on CBS during the 1966 and 1967 seasons, and two contests during each of the next two years. NBC followed suit in 1968 and 1969 with games involving American Football League teams. During negotiations on a new television contract that would begin in 1970 (coinciding with the completion of a merger between the NFL and AFL), Rozelle concentrated on signing a weekly Monday night deal with one of the three major networks.

However, both NBC and CBS were reluctant to disturb their regular programming schedules. On the other hand, ABC was a distant third in prime time ratings and more willing to take any perceived risk, moreover, ABC's existing Monday night prime time lineup was a particular weak spot. As a result, Rozelle made a deal with ABC. Despite high ratings, ABC lost millions of dollars on televising the games during the late 1990s and 2000s.

The NFL also indicated that it wanted Sunday night to be the new night for its marquee game, because more people tend to watch television on Sundays, and games held on that night would be more conducive to flexible scheduling , a method by which some of the NFL's best games could be moved from the afternoon to the evening on Sunday on short notice. Given these factors, as well as the rise of ABC's ratings on Sunday night, and the network's wish of protecting its television series Desperate Housewives on that night, on April 18, 2005, ABC and the NFL announced the end of their 36-year partnership, with the Monday Night Football broadcasts being moved to ESPN starting with the 2006 season . In 2011 , ESPN extended its MNF contract for an additional eight seasons, giving it rights to the broadcasts until 2021. The deal, valued around US$ 15 billion, also gave ESPN rights to expanded highlights, international, and streaming rights.

A new deal signed in 2021 sees ESPN retain these rights through 2033. Included with the new contract are the rights to two Super Bowls in 2027 and 2031, the introduction of flexible scheduling, three doubleheaders during the season with exclusive games on ABC , one divisional playoff game, and one exclusive game on ESPN+ .