ESPN Monday Night Football (abbreviated as MNF and also known as ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC for rare live special broadcast) is a live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games on ESPN in the United States. From 1970 to 2005, it aired on sister broadcast network ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest-running prime time programs ever on commercial network television, and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male viewers. MNF is preceded on air by Monday Night Countdown.
Monday Night Football is also broadcast in Canada on TSN and RDS, and in most of Europe. On September 7, 2013, the NFL announced that British Eurosport would show Monday Night Football games live in the United Kingdom for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The telecasts are also seen in most of Australia on ESPN Australia, in Portugal on SportTV 3 and SportTV HD and on TV 2 Sport in Denmark, and in some other regions of the world outside the U.S. on ESPN International. A Spanish-language version airs on ESPN Deportes in the U.S. and on ESPN International in Latin America, while a Portuguese version airs on ESPN Brasil. Per an NFL broadcasting policy intended to allow those who do not subscribe to cable or satellite television to see games televised by a pay television network, the games are also made available on over-the-air television stations in each participating team’s local market. In 2011, ESPN extended its contract for the show for an additional eight seasons, giving it rights to the broadcasts until 2021. The new deal, valued around US$15 billion, also gives ESPN rights to expanded highlights, international, and streaming rights.
