The first "Monday Night Football" game of the year might have been a snoozer, but the ratings didn't reflect that. ESPN revealed on Wednesday that the broadcast of the Kansas City Chief's 31-10 win over the Denver Broncos was the most-watched Week 1 "MNF" game ever. Those 23.2 million viewers marked a 5% increase over last year's debut, which featured the rivalry matchup of the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, "continuing the strong momentum of ESPN’s signature NFL franchise," ESPN said.
Granted, this game had several factors going for it. For one, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes returned after missing almost a year due to injury. He's often thought of as the face of the NFL, and he played alongside another future Hall of Famer in tight end Travis Kelce, whose spouse is none other than the superstar musician Taylor Swift.
Swift herself was in attendance and spotted celebrating a huge 59-yard catch-and-run for Kelce. Interestingly, though, the Chiefs' opponent was not nearly as star-studded. Yes, the Broncos played in the AFC Championship last season, but they don't feature the type of stars who transcend the sport like Mahomes and Kelce.
Despite the lack of star power on Denver's side, this matchup was the third most-watched "MNF" game since the franchise moved to ESPN 20 years ago, the network said. The only games that topped this matchup of teams led by Mahomes and Broncos QB Bo Nix were the rematch of the Philadelphia Eagles and Chiefs, who'd previously played in the Super Bowl, and the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers matchup on Christmas night. In addition to the strong ratings of the season's first "Monday Night Football," ESPN also boasted of hosting their "most expansive NFL season ever." There will be 29 games on the Worldwide Leader in Sports this season, most prominently Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027.
Inevitably, ESPN will be breaking more football viewership records as this season progresses.
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