On Monday, the game between the Falcons and the Saints attracted an audience that was surprisingly small for a Primetime NFL matchup in 2026, averaging only 11.9 million viewers across multiple networks like ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes.
To give some perspective, the Week 3 Monday night game featuring the Eagles and Bears had nearly double the viewership, bringing in 22.6 million viewers.
A drop of around 50% in viewership from one week to the next is quite unusual. However, this situation doesn’t seem to raise alarm bells for either ESPN or the NFL, given the context.
Throughout the first three weeks of the season, Monday Night Football boasted an average of 21.8 million viewers. Following Monday’s game, that average now stands at 19.3 million.
It’s likely that the viewer decline is connected to the teams themselves. Currently, neither the Falcons nor the Saints has a solid national appeal. Perhaps someday players like Michael Penix Jr. and Tyler Shough will draw more interest—today, though? Not so much. The game itself wasn’t particularly engaging either, with Atlanta securing a decisive 45-24 victory.
ESPN and the NFL had anticipated this wouldn’t be a blockbuster matchup. They had centered the night around commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Saints’ return to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. That 2006 game, which saw New Orleans triumph over Atlanta following a spectacular blocked punt by Steve Gleason, remains a highlight in the team’s history, symbolized by a statue at the stadium.
The pregame tribute for this anniversary was well-executed, even though it seems many fans opted not to stick around for the actual game that followed.
Looking ahead, ESPN will likely face no such concerns next Monday. They are set to showcase a high-stakes game in Week 5, featuring the Bills against the Rams, who are among the favorites for the Super Bowl this season.
With the star quarterbacks Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford in play, there’s a strong chance that this matchup will attract significant attention. If the game remains competitive, it might actually surpass the viewership of the Eagles versus Bears game.
There’s one potential hiccup, though: the MLB postseason. Both League Championship Series are scheduled for Monday, with the Dodgers playing the Brewers starting at 5 p.m. ET and the Rays taking on either Cleveland or Chicago at 8 p.m. on TBS.
While the NFL game will likely outdraw the baseball games overall, the competition could limit the Rams-Bills game’s reach.
Interestingly, NBC has chosen to feature the Falcons in Primetime this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens. However, with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson ruled out, the matchup might not excite fans as much. The quarterbacks, Penix and Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, are perhaps less enticing than the players from the previous Monday night’s broadcast. Plus, this game will air simultaneously with Game 1 of the Dodgers-Brewers series.
Overall, Monday Night Football is expected to outperform Sunday Night Football this week by a considerable margin.
